Devil May Cry: Conquering
by Bluerawr35
Summary: Two years after the events with Sanctus and the Savior at Fortuna, Dante learns that Mundus is still alive and well, gaining power with his sleep in the Underworld and also plans to invade the world with a massive force of demons at his hands.
1. PROLOGUE

PROLOGUE

_No...you...can't...you can't do this to me! I will come back! Get out of my head! AGH...DANTE!_

Dante wasn't easily aroused from his sleep, but the nightmare had sure done it's job. He gave the room a quick one-over, and slipped into his jacket. It smelled like pizza and gun-smoke, a coupling of smells he could deal with.

Glancing around the room one more time, he grabbed his pistols and _Rebellion_. "Dammit, I'm gunna have to find some kind of medicine." The thought was one of sadness and humor, for Dante was just too strong for any medicine to really take effect.

He sighed, and headed for the door. It was the longest dozen steps he'd ever taken in his life, and even as he made it to the door, it became longer, for he hesitated, looking back at his shop. Standing still for two minutes, he decided that nothing was out of place and walked out.

An immediate, powerful wave of rain started pecking at his dark red vest, and the jacket below it. He never thought he'd wear one, but he went ahead and slipped the black hoodie's top over his head. Dante put it on before he put the jacket on...actually, he'd fallen asleep in it.

Dante trudged through the empty back-alleys of the town, until he came upon a small convenient store. Slipping his pistols into his jacket, and making sure that his sword was firmly secured in it's guitar case, he walked in.

A rather large lady with curly, dark blonde hair pulled back into a bun, and a huge, black mole on the left side of her nose snorted behind the cashier's desk and gave him a raised brow. Dante returned the look with disinterest. He strolled down the isles until he was standing next to the alcohol. He popped open the fridge containing the drinks, and grabbed a beer. It was lite, but whatever...it was still beer.

He walked back over to the lady and set the bottle down on her desk. She sat there, typing away on a computer that was undoubtedly less than twice the size of her plump hand. "Ugh...lady? How much?" Dante huffed.

She glanced up at him, but only for a second, "Honey, can't you see I'm tryin' to do somethin' real quick? Just hold onto your trousers."

He sighed, thoroughly annoyed by the fact that it had been five minutes since she told him to wait, but still, he waited. And waited. And waited. "Miss, seriously, I'd like to buy the damned beer and get outta here. Is it really so much of a hassle to get up for one minute, and take some money so _I_ can get on with _my_ life too?"

She looked at him, eyes squinted, almost to the point of being shut, and turned back to her computer, "I told you to hold on."

That was the last straw. Dante grabbed the beer and walked towards the door. As soon as the fat lady stood up, Dante raised his middle finger at her, "Not a word."

Outside, the rain had calmed down quite a bit. At least enough to where he wouldn't be bothered opening his beer and drinking it out here. And so he did.

Sighing with satisfaction, Dante chucked the bottle into the nearest dumpster and went on about his business. It was late night, Dante presumed it to be about eleven o'clock or so, so he was not late to get his new job. He quietly walked down the street to the dance club, water splashing up a little with every step he took.

This man that he was going to go meet didn't give him a name, and under any other circumstance, Dante wouldn't go to see an unnamed client, but something about the man's voice intrigued Dante, almost to the point of sounding familiar. He would find out soon enough.


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

_And we were supposed to be twins._  
_Right..._

Love Planet is what they called that oh so popular dance bar. It seemed more like a strip club to Dante, but that didn't matter now. Dante waltzed right in through the front doors, hit with the aura of sex, lust, money...and yes, even drugs. Little fat men smoking joints, paying tips to women in skimpy leather outfits. Smoke everywhere. Heavy techno thudding throughout, vibrating the walls and tables. Yup, this was Love Planet.

Perhaps the reason Dante's contact was so easy to find was the fact that he was the only one in a suit. And there was something about his eyes that caught Dante's attention...something new...yet familiar. Dante was starting to feel uncomfortable with the fact that this person had so many similarities with...whoever it was. That glimmer in his eyes though...that silver glimmer. It sent a shiver down Dante's spine.

A quick order to the bartender for a beer which was chugged down upon arrival, and Dante sat in the booth next to the man. His eyes had been locked onto Dante the whole time, but only now did they really seem so terrifying to Dante. Aside from the eyes, the only noticeable feature about the persons head was his pitch-black, sleeked back hair, a single bang protruding outwards. "Hello, Dante."

"Hello mister man. I'm guessing that you're going to tell me whatever it is you want me to do now...right?"

"Well, of course. Why else would I meet such an important person face to face? Surely not to waste their valuable time." The man gently smiled at Dante.

Dante waited several moments, taking in everything he could learn by looking the guy over. "Alright, let's get down to business then, shall we?" Dante flipped the bottle cap from his beer up into the air and caught it with his teeth, fidgeting with it as the man began to speak.

"You. You're a very known person among the demon world...as are all of your friends, Trish, Mary...or Lady as you call her, and Nero. We even have tabs on your brother, Vergil."

"What the hell did you just say? Are you telling me that Vergil is still alive?!" Dante spat the cap out of his mouth as he spoke, leaning forward, putting both of his hands on the table.

"Alive and well...but only in a sense. Of course you know that all demon's souls are trapped within their weapons once they 'die'." The mans smile was ever persistent on staying right there on his face and mocking Dante in his surprise. It had never really occurred to Dante that Vergil would be stuck in _Yamato_. The very same sword that Dante left in Nero's possession.

"But if he's alive...who the hell was that on Mallet Island?!"

"It was your brother. Yes, I know. Even I don't understand how Mundus managed to take Vergil prisoner, when his sword came under the Order's control."

Dante shook his head rapidly, "Just...whatever. What is it that you're wanting me to do?"

"Get your friends, all of them, together. You're going to need them, because the mission I'm sending you on will alter the interaction between the demon world and the human world forever." The man's smile finally faded away.

"Been there, done that." Dante leaned back.

"No. You're going to kill Mundus. _Kill_ him." The man crossed his arms, and stared Dante in the eyes with a very cold look.

"That shouldn't be hard. I've already...wait, how in the hell do you even know who Mundus is?!" Dante wondered why he hadn't asked the question already.

"Dante, there are many things you will never know about me. But for now, you must trust me. It is, believe it or not, particularly urgent." The man leaned forward and looked past Dante, waving his hands. Something in the back crashed down and broke. Dante, turning to see what it was, saw that one of the waitresses dropped a platter of alcoholic beverages. As Dante turned, the presence of the man was gone, leaving him cold. Dante was alone in the booth.

One of the other waitresses walked over to him, "Hello sir. My you're a cute one...can I get you anything special?"

"No thank you."

Chapter 1: Part 2

_Power. Give me more power!_

The short walk back to the shop ended in a very tragic manner, for as Dante opened the door, it came off of it's hinges and fell into the mucky road, and thus the rain commenced on battering it with the merciless intent to make the wet dry.

Dante hissed, because he was tired...and fixing the door was work. He pulled the door back up, and propped it into the entrance at an angle. Rain still got through in tiny quantities, but it would do the trick for one night.

A snort and a sigh, a visit to the fridge for another drink, and Dante was out on the couch.

Of course, the next morning, he woke up groggier than ever, extremely grumpy. He attempted to remember what'd happened last night, and at the thought of the strange man in the dance bar, Dante hopped over to the phone. Strangely enough, it rang as he pulled away from it's base. His ears now rang as well, and he silently cursed the phone.

"Hello, this is Devil May Cry. Currently unavail-" Dante was cut short by the irritated voice of Lady.

"Dante, I'm coming down there today...and you'd better have a pile of money on your desk for me, or else there's gunna be hell to pay." Dante never remembered Lady sounding so ticked before, but he still ignored her anger.

"If I can even _find_ any extra money, I can assure you that it will be going towards materials to help me survive my lonely days in this shop." Dante made sure to emphasize 'lonely' and 'survive'. Not to get the point of being a helpless guy across to Lady, but rather to annoy the **** out of her.

"Shut the hell up! I'm coming." And so the phone clicked and Dante knew there probably _would_ be hell to pay.

"One down, two to go." Dante let himself know before dialing Trish's cell phone number.

Her answering message gave Dante an unpleasant hello, "Leave a message, I'm not here right now."

It was just so vague and...and...depressing. Trish really had to work on socializing, even through a cell phone's answering machine. Dante would have at least thrown a few words in there to make it seem like whoever was calling was getting into a 1-900 situation. The thought made Dante chuckle.

As soon as he was done leaving Trish a message, it was onto the kid. Nero would sure be the most difficult to convince to do anything. As far as Dante knew, Nero was trying to make a decent living with his redheaded treat. But Dante would give it a try. He dialed the number. A phone rang. Nero pushed over the broken door and walked into Dante's shanty shop.

Dante frowned, looking at him, and plugged the phone back into it's base. "Ever heard of knocking, kid?"

"Ever heard of a real _door_, smart guy?"

"Ever heard of a...a...uhm, shut up!" Dante threatened with a raised fist.

Nero shrugged, "Running out of the ol' ****y gibber gabber I see."

Dante snarled, "Boy, I oughta beat the white right off'a you!"

"Whatever, you called right before I walked in, so what do you want?" Nero looked at him, confident that he could best Dante in this secret situation of cat and mouse, or Dante and Nero...Nero being the mouse, Dante liked to think.

"What do _you_ want, seeing as how you barged in _my_ shop before _I_ invited you."

"A drink. They don't have beer in Fortuna, and I also want to knock out two birds with one stone and annoy you." Nero smirked.

"Well, little Niwo-" Dante mocked, "-I'm fwesh outta da good stuff." Of course it was a lie. Dante still had two cases of beer in the fridge.

"Liar, I bet you still have at least two cases in your fridge." Damn he was good.

Dante sighed, giving him a beer, when Lady came in, kicking down the other door that provided half of the entrance. It was bright, early morning outside. "What the hell, woman! I have one broken door already! Why didn't you come through there?!"

"Because it's fun to make someone who owes you money suffer." Lady retorted in a very bitchy manner.

Dante sighed, "My friends...who hate me. How wonderful."

Nero and Lady laughed, and then there was Trish. "Oh look who it is. The third musketeer, here to make your life...a living hell." Lady smiled.

"Most likely." Dante replied, annoyed.

Chapter 1: Part 3

_Just keep it together, Dante._

It was when Trish took a seat _so_ uncomfortably close to Dante, that he became _so_ completely fed up with the day, he just about felt the need to flail and babble incomprehensible things at everyone, but he held back. It was for the best. Dante simply shoved Trish away, and she frowned.

"Oh, Dante, what's the matter?" Trish said, trying to sound like his sweetheart.

"Woman, you don't even know." Dante replied, almost wheezing from the amount of current stress.

Nero leaned over the back of the couch, close enough that the air coming out of his nostrils lightly tickled the top of Dante's head, and spoke in a rather arrogant manner, "You know, Dante, this bad attitude you've been copping with us recently won't get you anywhere."

Then Lady propped herself over the arm of the couch, and whispered into his ear, "He's right honey-bun, and that especially doesn't fly with me, what with you owing about five thousand dollars to me and all."

So the day had finally come. Every single terror that really got on the raw side of his nerves...was on the raw side of his nerves. Damn, they even had Dante surrounded at that! And he twitched. "I'm going to royally beat the flippin' hell outta you guys one of these days." He sighed, taking a few deep breaths. "But, now that you're all here, we can get onto business!"

"Business? What's going on, Dante?" Trish quietly asked, a smirk on her face.

"We're all gunna go to hell...hopefully tonight." Dante smiled with closed eyes, leaving a quite confident look on his face.

"When did you get all emo on us? I never heard of anyone _wanting_ to go to hell, mkay." Nero was quick to insult.

Dante's smile flipped itself upside down, "You ass, and _you_ ass...and you know what? Just for good measure, Trish, _you_ ass, too...I mean I got a contract. It is apparently a matter of world security."

Lady, irked by the previous comment, managed to squeeze out a question, "What's the contract all about?"

"Well...you bunch o' asses, we've all been hired to go kick the hell out of Mundus, and kill him." Dante smiled again.

"You seem to be taking this in a very care-free manner, Dante." Trish actually looked worried.

"Well, I already beat him down once...whose to say all four of us can't _kill_ him?" Dante asked.

Trish was now full on frowning, "You expect us to go into his domain and kill him there? May I point out the thorough difference in power he will have? Plus, why now? What's going on that it's so important to do now?"

Lady, Nero and Trish all stared at Dante, and Dante looked back, "Hell if I know. It's obviously important to someone, and I'm positive there'll be a big ass payday."

They all exchanged baffled looks with one another and then looked back at Dante, and said in unison, "No way."

"You ass, _you_ ass...and oh wait...you don't count anymore because of the aura of fail that surrounds you." And so one by one, they all left his shop, leaving Dante with two broken doors and a sense of loneliness.

"Whatever, I still have my beer. Now for pizza." He sighed, for later tonight, he would be embarking on a heroic journey by himself. Or so he thought.


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

_You can feel my presence, boy. I know you can._

Nero had been walking away from Dante's shop when the voice stabbed into his head. He froze in the middle of the street, still wet from the rain the night before. His arm stung, and it began to burn uncontrollably. He whimpered a bit, but held it together.

Glancing around, there was no one in sight, so he pulled the sleeve up from his arm. Much to his surprise, it was glowing a bright, lucid orange. It was so bright that Nero had to look away, eyes burning slightly.

A sudden pain shot from his arm to his whole body, and he buckled over in absolute agony. "AGH, what...how is this...what's going on?!"

The voice responded, "_You've carried me for two years now. And in this time, I have been sleeping, but now I am awake, and you will help me return._"

Nero twisted, squinting in pain, "But...who...what are you?"

"_I am the soul and power of Yamato, a Son of Sparda. I am Vergil, and you will be my instrument._"

Nero's eyes widened, and he opened up his Devil Bringer arm, allowing _Yamato_ to materialize. The sword pulsed with heat, glowing a very faint blue. It almost felt as if the blade was trying to pull Nero. "What is it you want from me?"

"_Freedom, and the ability to carry out my revenge._"

"Revenge? On who?"

"_Mundus._"

Nero, still in pain, attempted to stand up and make a quick trip back to Dante's shop. Perhaps he would need to go with him after all.

-----A little while later-----

It was shortly after Dante had consumed the first half of the mini pizza, that Nero came barging back through his propped up shop doors, knocking them down yet again. "Ah C'MON MAN!"

"Shut the hell up, Dante...I'm coming with you." Nero said with labored breaths in between every word.

Dante paused, raising a brow, "What happened to you?"

Nero stuck his arm out for Dante to see. It was still glowing orange, and then _Yamato_ materialized in it, the same as it was a few dozen minutes ago. "He's...talking to me. He's awake."

Dante stood up, observing the sword, and took it from Nero. An immediate sense of reconnection filled him. "Vergil."

"_Dante._" The voice of the sword filled the shop.

"This is something else." Dante smirked. He chucked the sword back to Nero and crossed his arms, "I guess we ought to go ahead and leave right now, eh?"

"That'd be nice." Nero responded.

This is when Dante realized, he didn't exactly know where to go. Sure, there were plenty of ways to get into the demon world, but the place was like a maze, and there was always the specific one you needed to enter to get to the place you wanted to be. "Just, uh...let me find out how to get there first."

The sword spoke once more, insulting Dante, "_You oaf. You can never do things correctly on your own._" And with that, a strange, blue, fluorescent light appeared below both Nero and Dante, and they were sucked into it.

Chapter 2: Part 2

_This **** is crazy._

Upon arriving at...where ever they were, Dante was hit with several different smells, all of them relating to the distinct stench of the dead.

"_Dante, this is where I must be freed. In this place._" Vergil had once more spoken through his blade.

"As soon as I figure out where the hell we are." Dante glanced around, and then looked at Nero, who'd broken out in a small sweat. Nero shrugged.

"_We are in the place of my ultimate burial. Mundus found little use in me after our encounter in the island castle, Dante, so he had me buried here...or rather, my body._" Vergil snorted, irritated.

Nero looked around, "So...we're in the demon world."

Dante nodded, attempting not to smell the place. It was a futile attempt, and Dante gagged, inhaling more air than he meant to. There was only one thing he had to look forward to down here, and that was the ability to stroke his skin from the clean cut shave he'd given himself yesterday morning. It always took a while for the tiny hairs to erupt.

Dante and Nero observed their surroundings cautiously, and began their trek through the dull place.

Vergil started back up again, "_You've grown since we last really met eachother. I wonder if I'll look as terrible as you do..._"

"You know...you're really annoying. You should pretend to be a sword...oh wait, you are! You should pretend to be a better sword, and shut the hell up." Dante huffed, looking at the walls, which were devoid of any sort of detail.

Nero stared at Dante, and then _Yamato_, raising a thin brow, "So...you two are _really_ brothers?"

Both Sons replied in unison, "Yes."

Nero was amazed...more shocked perhaps, but none the less, it was still a bit surprising. He shrugged and continued with following Dante down the large corridor until they both entered a room. It was a dainty room, not much bigger than a bedroom, and it had a door on every side minus the one they'd come from.

The katana rattled wildly, "_The door on the left leads to my burial._"

Dante looked at the door on the left. It was a wooden door, reminding him much of his shop doors. Pushing thoughts of how many times his shop had been destroyed, he pushed the door open, and walked though, an anxious Nero following him closely.

"_Not much farther. Soon I will be free._"

"Shut it down, fool. I'm not in the mood to listen to your ranting on and on about freedom and death." Dante was becoming fairly annoyed with the fact that Vergil was more talkative than that pair of demonic swords, Agni and Rudra.

Much to his pleasure, Dante saw that they were getting closer to another room, candlelight illuminating the hallway leading into it. An eerie, purple glow pulsated from the room, and as they stumbled in, a large coffin made it's rightful appearance on the far side of the room.

"Jesus Vergil...I didn't know you'd become a vampy after you died." Dante chuckled.

"_If this foolish child-speak continues, I will be forced to hurt you, Dante._" The sword rattled once more, the faint glow becoming more vivid.

Nero looked at the sword, and at the coffin, "So what do we do now?"

"_Walk over to my coffin and open it. If my body is in their, which I'm certain it is, I wish you to push Yamato into me._"

As soon as Dante opened the coffin, the cold presence of the dead body...the once living Vergil...filled the room. Everything was as Dante remembered about Vergil before seeing him as the dark knight on Mallet Island.

Nero tossed the sword over to Dante, and as Vergil had said, Dante pushed the sword into him. Everything began to glow. The purple aura emanating from the coffin turned a bright blue. Candles glowed intensely. And Vergil's body, along with his blade, lifted from the coffin, burning with such a bright color, Dante almost couldn't see.

A bright, blinding flash filled the room, and when Dante and Nero could see once more, standing before them was Vergil in the flesh, holding a sheathed _Yamato_.

He stretched his arms and back, and popped his neck, fumbling with his jacket until it was how he wanted it, and then he looked at Dante and Nero. "Finally free of that boy's possession."

Dante stared at him, "Man...you are one _ugly_ sum- bitch. I think I liked you better as a silent weapon of absolute...silentness." Dante pulled himself into a comment he couldn't think to finish, and now he would surely pay the price. Vergil swatted him across the head with the hilt of his katana.

Dante rubbed his head, mouthing curse words at Vergil, and then turned to look at Nero, who looked absolutely astonished. Glancing back at Vergil, Dante felt the need to make one last thing painfully obvious to everyone.

"Goddamn, this was the most boring thing I've ever done in my life. Vergil, next time I save your ass from...whatever the hell you've been doing, you'd better make sure I get to have a little fun in the process. Seriously, this whole place is a little bit boring, even for the demon world. And there weren't even any guards...can we at least rob a bank in the process or something, next time?"

Vergil simply gave Dante the stink eye. "Shut up."

Chapter 2: Part 3

"So...like, Vergil...like, what the hell man...like, where are we going? Like, do you-" Dante's annoying rant was put to an abrupt halt.

"SHUT THE HELL UP DANTE!" A vain bulged outward above Vergil's right eye.

"Jesus Christ...don't be so bitchy."

"How would you act if you just officially came back from a nearly ten year long dormancy?" Vergil's brow raised, purely ticked off at the moment.

"Me? You askin' _me_? Well! I would embrace being _alive_ again, and par-tay."

"So juvenile. To be expected. Ugh, just be quiet." Vergil shook his head and continued on with walking.

"...soooo, where exactly _are_ we going?" Dante posed the question once more, and in a less annoying manner this time, in hopes of an answer.

They had gone through one of the other doors after waking Vergil, and they'd been walking for what seemed like half an hour now, in the same, dull, gray corridors that they'd been in for at least an hour now.

"You'll never ease up will you?" The vain in Vergil's head had faded away, but it was slowly reemerging.

"Nope."

And then Nero chimed in, "Hey! If you won't tell him, feel free to tell me."

Vergil glanced over at Nero, "You...are nothing more than a child. I don't even care to talk to you."

Dante clucked, "Tsk, tsk...guess you'll just have to tell me, won't you?"

"We are going to retrieve an artifact that I _know_ is here. It will help us into the demon world."

"What is it?" Dante asked.

"The Staff of Hermes." Vergil squinted, nostrils flaring.

"Hey, what?! I used that thing back on the island where I kicked the **** out of you!" Dante smirked, "Why's it here?"

"You don't think you can just _destroy_ demonic artifacts...do you? They all come here once they're deemed 'dead'."

"So...what, we're in a big demon museum?" Dante scratched his hair, ruffling it a bit. Specs of white fell out.

Vergil gave Dante a strange look, still flaring his nostrils.

Dante flared his back.

"Yes...we're in a-" Vergil couldn't think. Dandruff was still sprinkling out of Dante's hair. "Good grief, use some conditioner or something! Anyway, as I was saying, we are in fact, in the equivalent of a demon museum, yes."

Dante's eyes were wide open. "God, I didn't know you were such a freak." Vergil's nostril still flared. "What're you sniffing at?!"

"Don't you smell them too?"

"Smell who?" Dante honestly didn't smell anything.

"The guards. We're not alone." Vergil snorted.

"Sweet action!"


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

_Vergil has returned? Is this correct?_

Yes, and the damned fool is practically giving Mundus what he wants.

A personal quest of revenge will be perfect for him. Mundus will take the opportunity to escape the demon world once more, and this time, he will be prepared to fight the Sons of Sparda.

What about the new one...Nero?

The boy holds more potential than that of Dante and Vergil combined.

I wouldn't hold him that high, Credo.

It wouldn't matter anyway. With what Mundus is planning, all three of them together couldn't stop him.

There's going to be a war.

Indeed. We may have to risk revealing ourselves.

Even if we did help, there would still be a terrible amount of loss.

We will most likely have to.

Yes, but are we sure that turning Earth into a battlefield is the best plan to overcome Mundus?

Dammit...yes! It is the only way he will be stopped. Ever since the incident on Mallet Island, he has been gathering a substantial amount of power. There's no way around it. Mundus is just too powerful. He will undoubtedly invade when Vergil releases him, and we will have to intervene.

Are you sure.

Are you not listening?!

Yes...it's just...nevermind.

You're too attached to your boys. You have to accept the fact that no matter what happens, there is a possibility that they will die. Sparda...are you listening?

Yes. I have been listening the whole time. It's just as you said. I've never even had the chance to really meet them.

Hmm...we shall hold a vote...just the three of us. Credo, do you wish to carry out with the anti-invasion plan?

Yes, of course. It's the only-

I didn't ask for a reason. Just a yes or a no. Sparda...what say you on the matter?

...I relay forth an honest vote. No.

Very well. I myself, vote yes. Two of three votes are yes. The anti-invasion plan will be carried out at the first sign of Mundus' attack.

Lord Evangel, may I ask a question.

Of course, Sparda.

What if Earth and the High Realm fall to Mundus.

Then God be with us all.

You both worry too much. With our combined efforts, the High Realm, along with all three of your sons, will be more than enough to wipe out Mundus.

I hope you're right, Credo.

Chapter 3: Part 2

"How many of these bastards are there?!" Dante yelled out at Vergil as he chopped and hacked through three more of the demonic guard, their purple blood spewing about from the gashes and tears left in them.

"Less talking. Concentrate on the fight." Vergil replied as he slid his katana through one of the enemies. It fell with a shriek. Vergil continued his barrage of attacks by releasing a large force of seething-hot blue swords. He sprayed the area, killing a dozen more.

"You'd think that there's a whole damned army in this one room!" Nero grappled one of the demons with his devil bringer arm, spinning it around, pummeling several others in the process, and then hurled it across the room, where Dante leaped into the air, slicing into three.

An endless swarm of the horned monsters was pouring out of every door in site. They all carried small weapons of sorts, ranging from sickles to short swords. Their purple, scaled skin was no match for the weapons of Dante, Nero and Vergil. Unfortunately, if the fight lasted too much longer, it wouldn't matter. The three would be overcome by the sheer amount of demons.

A distant thudding pulsed through the floor and into the feet of the three devil hunters. Dante paid no mind to it. Nero took notice, but continued his massacre. Vergil was the only one who stopped. He allowed the vibrations to fill him, thoughts flooding through his head.

"Something very, _very_ big is coming." Vergil spoke, almost sounding slightly worried, as a demon reached for him. A quick swipe, and the demon slid apart at an angle.

"So what? We'll beat the daylights out of it." Dante said, confident at the moment.

The thuds stopped. A monstrous roar filled the room. Nero looked upon the fattest demon he'd ever seen. It looked relatively similar to the ones they'd been fighting...just a few feet taller, and perhaps a good dozen-hundred pounds heavier. "Dante...I think you may want _rethink_ what you said."

Dante turned to look at the giant demon, standing in the corridor across the room, jerking his sword from the chest of a demon. His mouth fell open, "Oh...daaay-uuumn! What a fat, tubby lookin' demon he is. Oh my...I'm sorry, guys, but I have to take a moment and name it."

"You're not serious...are you?" Vergil questioned, decapitating another of the guards.

"Of course! Now then...what should I call you." Dante spun his sword through a few more demons and then placed it on his back. "I got it!" Dante drew _Ebony and Ivory_, leaping into the air, using one of the other demons as a fleshy springboard. As he made it midway to the larger demon, he yelled out, seemingly stopping his fall, "I'll call you Teddy!" And then he unleashed a swath of bullets into it's head. Gunfire roared throughout the room, as Dante kept pounding bullets into it's head.

The demon howled ferociously as Dante landed on the ground, holstering his pistols and dusting off his jacket. He looked at the big demon, and smiled, "Aw...fatboy havin' some slow-mo issues?"

The demon fell with a boom, squishing a few other demons not smart enough to move. And then the fighting resumed. It seemed like a whole hour went by before the fight ended. Upon Vergil swiping the last demon into several layers, the three continued their search for the Staff of Hermes.

"When you see it, tell me." Vergil snorted.

"Yes _Lord_ Vergy." Dante chuckled, replying.

"Don't _ever_ say that again." Vergil paused. "I _will_ hurt you in ways you never thought possible."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever."

"Hey...would this be it by any chance?" Nero waltzed around a corner and was staring right at the staff. Vergil and Dante appeared behind him.

"Yes, that would be it." Vergil's mouth formed a crooked smile. "One step closer to watching you _die_, Mundus."

Chapter 3: Part 3

Dante slowly walked circles around a seated Nero, looking at Vergil, "So now that we have what we came for...what do we do?"

Vergil narrowed his eyes at Dante, "We find a gate into the demon world. But we may need more than just the staff."

"Wait-" Nero paused, "Aren't we already in the demon world?"

"In a matter of speaking, yes. But, we're not in the correct part. This place is actually a separated part of their world. There's no way to get there from here unless one of the-" Vergil's speaking was cut off by a loud humming noise.

"What the hell is _that_?" Dante asked no one in particular.

Vergil stepped around the corner with a rather surprised, but pleased look on his face. "Unless one of the demons opened a portal into here."

Nero and Dante followed Vergil around the corner to look past the pillar, "Wait...what...we did all of this work searching for that damned staff for NOTHING?!" Dante shouted angrily.

"Indeed we have, Dante." Vergil shook his head smiling. "That fool, Mundus, _wants_ me to come kill him."

Dante paused, "You know, now is a good time to talk about who's going to be doing the killing. It's going to be me. I'm getting payed to kill him."

"No...you're not, because if you're referring to the man who gave you the job, I sent him." Vergil nodded, "You didn't even see him in his true form. I sent you a Doppelganger for a client."

"You bastard! You just got us to join up so we could free you and help you with your vendetta against Mundus!" Dante stomped his foot against the ground and shook his fist.

"Yes, that's exactly what I did. Now to answer the next question-" Vergil was once more cut off.

"Tell me this! Why didn't you just open a portal to their world yourself! You brought us _here_." Dante's brows furrowed.

"As I was saying before you so rudely interrupted me you half brained twat! To answer your question, I simply did not have enough power to do so." Vergil sighed, finally done with speaking his piece.

"Well, he obviously wants us to go, so what are we waiting on?" Nero asked.

"We shouldn't be waiting on anything now. Let's go." Vergil said, looking at Dante.

"Well, the sooner we get this done, I guess the sooner I can get back to my shop." Dante shrugged.

"When we're done with this, there may not be a shop for you to go back to." Vergil smiled.

"What are you saying."

"I'm saying that once we confront him, he will be released onto Earth." Vergil spoke, eyes narrowing even more than they already were.

"Are you..._stupid_?" Dante's face actually looked serious. "You want to release Mundus on Earth?"

"Yes. Him and the army that he's been massing. It will be the only way for us to fight properly. A battlefield worthy of Gods." Vergil's smile grew more crooked and evil every second.

"No. I won't allow you to do this." Dante shook his head, stepping forward.

"I didn't ask for your permission brother. You don't have to come if you don't want to." Vergil looked at Dante, and then at Nero, "What about you. Who's side are you on. Mine or his."

Nero looked at Vergil, and then stepped next to Dante. "I don't know who you are, but I'm with Dante on this one. You're insane."

"Well, then I must tell you that if you choose to interfere, rather than just walk away, it will result in the death of the both of you." Vergil snarled, stepping towards the portal that had opened in the floor.

"You're full of ****, Vergil. You're not going to release him." Dante stepped after him.

"I am. Try and stop me." Vergil said, knowing that Dante would.

"Kid, you with me on this?" Dante questioned Nero.

"Of course. I'm not ready to see our world get trashed." Nero replied, stepping forward.

Dante nodded, pulling _Rebellion_ from his back once more. "This seems slightly familiar." He rushed forward, jumping into the air, sword above his head.

Nero speedily followed, running below him, _Red Queen_ at his side. He growled, charging after Vergil.

Vergil turned, unclicking _Yamato_ from it's sheath. "Too familiar." He said, deflecting the other two blades simultaneously.

Nero and Dante unleashed an ungodly amount of attacks on Vergil, who effortlessly blocked them all. Then Nero grabbed Vergil with Devil Bringer. "Bad move." Vergil smiled, reversing the grapple and hurling Nero into Dante.

Nero kicked off of Dante's shoulder and flew into the air, pulling _Blue Rose_ it's holster. He fired the double barreled revolver at Vergil. Dante flipped away, pulling his pistols out as well, and unloaded in Vergil's direction.

_Yamato_ began spinning like a fan, sending the bullets in all directions. When the sea of ammo stopped coming at him, he faded and immediately reappeared next to Dante, bashing his jaw with the hilt of his katana. Vergil then sliced through Dante's gut, and kicked him down, impaling him. Dante grunted, "And now, things kick off into the next round."

Dante grinned as a red cloud appeared around his body. He glowed, and his body brightly flashed for a second. Dante's clawed feet were planted on Vergil's stomach, and he kicked him off.

"So you've already reverted to your devil form, hmm? You do things too soon. I'll just have to-" Vergil was bashed across the back of the head by Nero's fist. Vergil flew back into Dante, who grabbed him, and smashed him against the wall. Grabbing him by the face, Dante spun around and threw him back to Nero, who grabbed his jacket collar, and fired a shot from his gun into Vergil's chest. Vergil flew into the wall.

Everything was silent. Nero landed next to Dante, who was still in his Devil Triggered state. "Is he dead?" Nero asked.

Dante's voice rasped in response, "No...he's just getting started."

A rumbling sound and a violent shake revealed this to be the truth, as Vergil erupted from the hole he'd made in the wall. His skin was blue and scaled, and his eyes glowed a bright yellow. "Big mistake, boy."


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

_And so the war finally starts with a small conflict between these three. Terrible that it will grow into such a bloody conflict._

Vergil exploded forward in a blur of speed, diving right into Nero, smashing and sliding against the floor before bouncing right back up into the air. Dante didn't think Nero would be capable of holding his own against Vergil, but he was countering the barrage of super-fast attacks that Vergil had him locked in.

Dante could barely see them, they were moving so fast, but in one moment, Nero yelped and Vergil was out of sight, leaving Nero to fall. It was silent until Vergil seemingly flew into Nero out of nowhere, crashing into the ground. Dante went to investigate, only to have it revealed that Vergil tackled Nero into the portal.

"Dammit. Well, here goes." Dante sighed and hopped into the portal, leaving it to close behind him.

Upon falling from the ceiling out of the other side of the portal, Dante landed in what seemed to be an organic room. It was vast. Dante trudged forward a few steps, glancing around. He couldn't see anything aside from the fleshy walls of the room, and the squishy, wet floor. However, Dante could _hear_ everything. Nero and Vergil were still locking swords. The clanging of their blades rattled through the room, and the air whistled, cut by their sheer speed.

Dante listened until a split second when they right above him, and in that short frame of time, he jumped straight up, sticking himself between the both of them, "Come on now, guys, can't we just settle this kindly over a beer or two?"

Vergil jerked his head to both sides, rapidly looking all over the room, and then propelled himself off of Dante, landing on one wall, ricocheting off of it and onto the next wall, and then flew back into Nero and Dante from the side, tackling them. All three smashed into the ground together, creating a large crater.

Vergil growled in Dante's face, Dante chuckling until he noticed what was behind Vergil. A dome of Vergil's magic swords was floating above their crater, and in that moment, Vergil jumped away, and the swords came flying down into Dante and Nero. Nero gasped in pain, coughing up a small bit of blood, and Dante cringed, pulling one of the blades from his chest. It didn't matter. Vergil clinched his fist tightly, and all of the swords exploded into a magnificent, blue flame.

Feet gently touching down onto the floor, Vergil scoffed, changing back into his normal self. "Waste of time."

He turned, walking towards a gigantic, white marble set of doors, and pushed them open. This room was drastically different from the previous one, taking on the appearance of a kings palace. Marble pillars protruded from a white, tiled floor. Everything had a distinct shine to it. At the end of the room, a gargantuan statue sat.

Vergil strode up to it, "Mundus. Your death will be carried out by my hands on this very day. It is time for your short lived freedom from this shell."

A deep voice laughed, "_Ha! You have no idea why I brought you here, do you?_" Mundus sighed, "_Son of Sparda...you are the gate through which I will invade and destroy Earth. Your body will be my weapon. You will once more be a slave to my will._"

The statue's head began to glow, three bright, red circles appearing. A beam of energy shot out of Mundus' head, enveloping Vergil.

"Wha- What is this trickery?! What are you- AGH!" Vergil squirmed, unable to escape the cage of energy.

Mundus laughed, "_No point in trying to escape._"

Then Dante, charred and bleeding, walked through the door, Nero slumped over his shoulder. He frowned. "I knew I recognized this place."

Dante sat Nero down on the floor, looking at Vergil and then Mundus. "Let him go Mundus. You're not taking him from me again."

"_Ah, Dante! Right you are. I'm not taking him from you. I'm becoming him!_" Mundus chuckled.

The beam joining Mundus and Vergil started to expand, surging on occasion. Vergil screamed in agony, "No...you...can't... you can't do this to me! I will come back! Get out of my head! AGH...DANTE!"

Vergil flailed, attempting to escape before one last surge struck his body. The beam faded. Vergil laid seemingly lifeless on the ground. Dante limped over to his body, only to be blown back by an explosive wave of energy. Vergil's body floated into the air, and he turned to look at Dante.

His voice sounded different as he greeted Dante, "Hello, scum of Sparda."

"MUNDUS?!" Dante took a step forward, surprised.

"Yes, it is me, Dante." Mundus smiled wickedly through Vergil, "And now, I will destroy your home and your world, along with all of it's people, so that demon-kind may flourish in a new domain!"

Dante attempted to run forward so he could attack Vergil, but he missed as Vergil's body faded away. "****!"

Chapter 4: Part 2

_Has Nero died?_

No. As I said before, Nero is far stronger than the other two. It will take something horrific to kill him.

I agree.

Sparda...you think that Nero is more powerful than both of your other sons?

I do. It wasn't even that long ago that he proved this to be true by unleashing the Devil Bringer. It was with him since he was born. All of us have something, a devil form, if you will. He has become so powerful that part of his true devil form has made itself a permanent feature.

Sparda, you never did tell us. Why did you orphan that boy?

It was for his own good.

But why?

When they were all born, I felt something from them all, but he was different. Something about him felt...pure. I only felt power from the other two. But Nero just seemed different. I don't know how to describe it, but I didn't want him to be like the other two would be. I knew they would develop in their own ways, but I had to make sure he was completely his own.

Sparda, you're not making much sense.

Credo, when you first met that young man, what did you see in him.

I don't know.

Yes you do. You don't want to admit it, but you saw a real, noble hero. We've seen what happened to Vergil, and Dante isn't exactly the perfect paragon.

Yes, this is true, but how is he going to stand up to Mundus?

Nero is more powerful than Dante, and you don't think he can defeat Mundus?

No. Not now. Mundus has gained more strength in these past few years than you could imagine.

It doesn't matter. We will fight at Nero's side, and we will all destroy Mundus.

Yes. Well, we'd best prepare ourselves. It will be very soon now. Before the moon rises, there will be blood spilled.

-----

"Come on kid! Wake up! The world is in danger and your ass is asleep!" Dante yelled, smacking Nero across the face a couple of times. Nero flinched.

"Dammit! Wake the hell up! Mundus is going to go kick the world's ass and you're taking a nap!" Dante said, almost begging. And then one of Nero's eyes moved.

"Dante...get off of me...you smell." Nero chuckled.

"Wow, you're one smooth criminal. You get the **** kicked out of you and you can still come out with a few classy insults." Dante laughed, pulling Nero up. "C'mon, we got get outta here. Mundus already left with Vergil."

"Well, let's go help him them." Nero nodded, edging over to the marble doors.

"There won't be any helping him. Mundus took Vergil's body over." Dante looked at Nero, shrugging.

"Well...ain't that something? We still gotta get out there. I have to make sure Kyrie is okay." Nero waved his hand towards the door, and jogged back outside.

"Where's the portal?" Nero asked, looking back at Dante.

"Mundus must have closed it when I fell through behind the two of you." Dante frowned, looking at the ceiling.

"How the hell do we get out of here then?" Nero glanced at the ceiling, asking Dante.

Dante scratched his head, and looked up at Nero, "How did Vergil do all of his ninja tricks?"

"Maybe he just concentrates really hard on a place that he wants to go?" Nero shrugged, doubting his guess.

"Well...it's worth a try." Dante grabbed Nero by the shoulder and shut his eyes. Thinking of the Devil May Cry shop, he imagined all of the things he owned, and where they were in the shop, and everything outside of the shop, and he thought of the convenient store and that fat lady behind the cashier's desk and...God did he hate her face. He could spend a whole hour listing things he didn't like about her, and-

Dante's thoughts were interrupted as he and Nero were sucked into a nothingness and spat out into one of the isles of the convenient store. Nero landed on his back, and Dante smashed into one of the shelves, knocking it's contents all over the floor.

The fat lady appeared at the end of the isle, "What the- where did you- why the hell are you destroying my shop you asshole?!"

Dante looked over at her, "Listen up...I've had one HELL of a day, and if you don't the shut the **** up, I'm going to rip the blubber right off'a your ass...so leave me the hell alone!" Dante dusted his jacket off and walked over to one of the coolers, pulling out two beers.

He walked back over to Nero and helped him up, handing him a beer, "Here, bottoms up." Dante smiled, and they both drank the beer right in front of the woman.

"Adios." Dante waved at her as he and Nero left the store.

Chapter 4: Part 3

_You killed her! You son of a bitch, you killed her!_

Nero and Dante walked down the street, glancing around at everything. Nothing seemed to be out of order. There were even a couple of bums on the side of the street. The sun was setting, leaving orange and purple streaks across the clouds in a dark, gray-blue sky.

And then it happened. All at once, over ten different explosions occurred throughout the city. Fire was quick to spread and burn down even more buildings. People came rushing out of every door possible, screaming in fear. Soon, the sky was black and red, and the city burned ferociously.

"See anything out of the ordinary yet?" Dante asked Nero, both of them still walking through town.

"What? Aside from a burning city? No." Nero shrugged.

A screech came from a nearby ally, followed by a woman screaming. The girl came running out, pushing past Nero, and following her on all fours came a demon. It looked like one of the demons they'd fought earlier, but it's body was white except for it's horns and the ends of all of it's limbs, which all appeared to be on fire.

Upon noticing Nero and Dante, the thing came to an abrupt halt. A gigantic scythe appeared in it's hands and within that very second, it lunged forward. Dante put his pistol forward and fired one shot. The demon hit the ground and slid, leaving a small trail of blood on the road.

"Demons lack style anymore. Weak ass." Dante smirked and continued walking.

"So...does that count for your concept of 'out of the ordinary'? Or do you need something a bit bigger and scarier?" Nero smiled.

"I think that oughta suffice." Dante looked around, "So...I guess we should split up. We'll have a better chance of finding Vergil and Mundus if we do."

Nero nodded, "Good idea...but before we go, don't you think we should handle those guys over there?" He asked, pulling his sword from his back, pointing at a large group of the fiery demons with it.

"Sure thing. Just lead the way, would you kindly?" Dante made a tiny bow, smiling.

"My pleasure." Nero slowly sped up until he was running, and then he smashed the tip of his sword into the ground, revving it up while he flipped over it and into the group of demons. Upon landing, he spun around, slicing through three of the demons, allowing the heated liquid to spew out and catch them on fire...completely.

Dante rolled in behind Nero, both pistols drawn, and fired in all directions while sitting on one knee. When one of them came too close, he quickly holstered his guns, and whipped out _Rebellion_, jabbing into the demon several dozen times until it was nothing more than a bloody mass.

"You know...this day just progressively gets worse and worse as we go." Dante shook his head, chuckling.

Nero sighed, nodding, "Yeah...that's very true. Now that that's done, you take the left, and I'll take the right."

"Let's rock."


	6. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Credo ran through the golden tiled halls of High Realm, trying to get to the council room as quickly as possible. Upon bursting through the door, Sparda and Lord Evangel turned to meet him.

Credo walked over to them, glancing out of the balcony to see the ocean of clouds before them. Angels flew between massive towers in the distance, and gleaming rays of sunlight reflected off of the shine of the colossal, castle walls.

"Sparda, Lord Evangel, the time has come. Mundus' plan took effect much faster than we'd expected! He's already overpowered and destroyed a third of the planet! We must go NOW!" Credo plead.

Sparda removed the monocle from his eye, wiping it off, and placed it in the pocket of his newly sewn, purple jacket, "Credo, is the legion prepared?"

Lord Evangel stepped away from the balcony, "I took initiative and got them ready several hours ago, Sparda. All that needs to be down now is the summoning of the portal at the North Gate."

"Come then! We must move with haste!" Credo waved them to follow, and ran out of the door.

"Something about this doesn't feel right." Sparda said, concerned.

"Nothing seems right when millions of people lose their lives in the blink of an eye." Evangel said, trying to reason.

"I suppose that is very true. Come on, Credo will be there before we even leave if we stay in here too much longer." Sparda nodded, running from the room.

Evangel took one last look over the balcony, "Mundus...I guess a family reunion is due about now."

-----

Nero was sweating from the heat of all the fire. People were running past him in the streets, and even more were dead, laying still on the sides, or being carried off by demons. Nero hacked his way through a few more demons before coming to the edge of the street.

"What...the hell?" There was nothing but a decent into what looked to be fire. The road had been destroyed, ripped apart but some force of demonic power. All that was left was a blazing ravine.

Turning back to go the other way, Nero was grabbed by the collar of his shirt and kicked into a nearby building. "Looking for me was a bad idea, boy." Mundus' voice echoed outward from Vergil.

"You! I'm going to kick your ass!" Nero jumped back up, running towards Vergil.

"Catch me if you can." Mundus laughed, mimicking Vergil's body and jumping away. He faded in the sky.

"Ugh, dammit!" Nero glanced around, looking for Vergil.

"I'm behind you!" Mundus laughed again, disappearing once more, as Nero swung his sword around.

Smashing _Red Queen_ into a nearby chunk of wall, Nero jerked on the sword, trying to rip it out. He looked around for Vergil "Damn you! Fight me!" Nero yelled angrily.

"You don't want that." Mundus appeared next to Nero, planting a knee in his gut with Vergil.

Nero fell back, coughing on his saliva, "Ugh, what the hell are you talking about?! Stop attacking like a coward and show me some skill! I thought you were supposed to be a God! You're just a weakling!"

"Boy-" Mundus laughed, "You wouldn't want me to fight you. I'd kill you in mere seconds."

"Why don't we test that theory of yours out." Nero frowned, finally managing to pull his sword from the rubble.

"Hmm...how about this? I release Vergil from my physical control, and you fight _him_ instead."

"No, I want _your_ blood!" Nero yelled.

"Well...if you actually did manage to kill me, you would never learn the location of your dearly beloved. Oh, did I mention that yet? I have your lovely, young lady stashed away. I did it just for you!" Mundus laughed, putting one of Vergil's hands on Nero's shoulders.

Nero jumped, startled, "Agh! What...how do you know her?! What have you done with Kyrie?! I'll DESTROY you!" Nero struggled, grabbing at Vergil. Vergil hopped away.

"I've been watching you and Dante for a very long time. Of course I'd know about Kyrie." Mundus paused after speaking, something in the sky catching his attention, "I must leave. I have business to tend to. I'll play with you later."

Nero attempted to punch Vergil, but he jumped back and bounced onto a building, hopping away. "Dammit! Come back here!" Nero screamed, chasing after Mundus.

Another explosion of fire knocked Nero back, creating another gash in the city. Demons began crawling out of the fiery pit, and Nero began shooting, slicing, and killing. "Get out of my way!"

-----

Dante had already been fighting off a horde of demons when a gigantic, golden gate appeared in the sky, "Oh what the hell could possibly come out of _that_ thing? There's just too many of these guys today...but I guess this is good practice." Dante smirked, before backhanding a demon and then jabbing it with his sword.

After it was dead he placed _Rebellion_ on his back and looked back at the gate. He could see little specs coming out of it, and squinted, trying to make out what they were. "Are those...Angels? Hmph, nice time to make an appearance." Dante chuckled.

All of the demons around Dante were dead, so Dante continued to walk down the street, right past Love Planet, which had been utterly destroyed. Still concentrating on the gate, Dante was stopped by a flash of light and a body shaking shock-wave. Taking a couple steps away from the dust that was kicked up from a newly formed crater in the ground, Dante's eyes widened at the sight of the figure that emerged.

"Dante."

"Dad..."

Chapter 5: Part 2

Nero cut through one demon, leading into another, and revved up his sword. The magma-like liquid helped him slice through several more enemies, cutting through them like butter. Nero was breaking out in a sweat, and he was almost at the point of insanity. He was becoming hysterical with worry for Kyrie.

A swarm of demons covered him, but he knocked them off with ease, his Devil Bringer arm flinging them off, "Get the hell out of my way!"

Nero began jumping over several of the large ravines in the ground when out of nowhere, he was struck to the side by a giant club, stretching out of one of the fiery gashes. He struggled to get back up, laying eyes on his predator.

"RAH, Son of Sparda! You will not take me so easily this time! Not like you did before!" The gigantic, flaming spider said, crawling the rest of the way out of the pit.

"I don't have time for this ****! Shut the hell up and get of my way!" Nero yelled furiously.

"You dare speak to me in such a way?! You will learn to fear and bow before the wrath of Phantom!" Phantom yelled, as what seemed to be a large, scorpion tail unrolled itself from his back.

"All of you big demons are the same! Large, stupid and annoying!" Nero said before jumping onto Phantom, attempting to gouge his eyes out from above.

Nero was unsuccessful as the giant tail swooped down, knocking him off and sending him crashing into a nearby dumpster. Nero hopped up, once more revving the sword, "LEAVE ME THE **** ALONE!" He screamed, images of an endangered Kyrie flooding his mind.

"Hah! You are conflicted. You may prove to be an easy fight this time!" Phantom laughed, speedily crawling towards Nero, leaving large, magma-filled cracks in the road. He clawed at Nero with his front two legs, attempting to beat him down. Nero just jumped above him, whipping out _Blue Rose_ and unleashing a load of shots.

The spider demon screeched, once more using his tail to swipe Nero away. Nero smashed into the ground with a thud, but quickly rolled over, blocking another leg with his sword, releasing the fire-liquid, which did absolutely nothing. He struggled against the sheer weight of the demon, still thinking of Kyrie, and then lost his grip on the sword, the leg falling down and crushing him.

-----

"You leave...and then you have the balls to show up twenty something years later! Who the hell do you think you are?" Dante snarled at Sparda, shaking his head.

"I guess I deserve that for leaving you behind all of those years ago, but now is not the time for an explanation. Dante, the world is being taken over by Mundus." Sparda said.

"You don't think I know that? If you haven't noticed, this whole damn city is on fire, and nearly everyone in it is dead!" Dante scoffed, "I just...I can't believe that you're alive after all of these years."

"Son, I'm not. You have to understand that I died shortly after I left you. The only reason I'm even here right now is because of the peril the world is in." Sparda said, reasoning with Dante.

"Whatever, I'm going. This is starting to become a little _too_ crazy for my tastes. I need to find the kid and make sure he's not getting himself into any trouble." Dante began walking, still shaking his head.

"You mean Nero?" Sparda asked.

"How the hell do you know who he is?" Dante turned around, surprised.

"I'll explain in a while. For now, let's go find him." Sparda nodded, and they both set off.

-----

The leg kept on lifting up and falling back down, continuously crushing Nero, who no longer had the power to fight. "Aha! Not so tough anymore, are you, Son of Sparda?!"

Nero replied in between every crushing, as best as he could, "Why...does...every...one...keep...calling...me... that?" Nero said, almost unable to talk. His vision started to fade when the beating stopped, and he heard Phantom scream.

"AGH, dammit! There are more...SPARDA?!" The spider demon yelled, being pummeled by two more of the white-headed devil hunters.

Nero almost passed out, and he could no longer hear anything, when he felt a hand on his face. A distant voice called out to him, "Hey...c'mon kid. Don't die yet, we've still got save the planet."

Nero attempted to wake up, but he couldn't, and several seconds later, he felt himself being slumped over something, a shoulder perhaps.

-----

"So, now that we've got the kid, you gunna tell me what the hell is up?" Dante looked over the passed out Nero on his shoulder at Sparda.

"Dante, you know just as well as I do that we still don't have time right now." Sparda shook his head.

"Well, dammit, you'd better start talking soon!" Dante said angrily, still walking off.

Sparda growled, "Let's at least get to shelter then."

"Take a damn look around, everything is on fire!" Dante snarled once more.

Nero shifted, and began to wake up. Dante set him down on the ground, and knelt down next to him, "Almost thought that big ass spider got you...sadly, I've kicked his ass before, so what's that say about you?"

Nero shrugged, "Shut...the hell up." Nero paused, getting his thoughts in order, "K-Kyrie! I have to find Kyrie!"

"Calm down. I don't think Mundus is going to harm her. At least not yet." Sparda said, trying to reassure Nero.

Upon looking at Sparda, Nero's eyes widened, "I...know you...but from where?"

"It makes sense-" Sparda said, "You're my third son."

Both Dante and Nero looked at Sparda, astonished, and said in unison, "What the hell did you just say?!"

"Yes. I am your father, Nero. I'm sorry, I would explain more, but the task at hand is just too important." Sparda explained, pulling Nero up from the ground.

Dante looked at Nero, and then at Sparda, "So...we're all family?" Then a thought came to his mind, "Wait! If you're still alive, then...is...mom?" Dante asked, almost reverting to a child-like facial expression.

"Yes, Eva is still 'alive'." Sparda looked back over to Nero, "As is your mentor, Credo."

"What?! Credo is still alive?!" Nero grabbed Sparda by the shoulder.

"Yes, and he is here. If you want to see him, I recommend we leave before we are detained by more demons." Sparda said, walking away.

Chapter 5: Part 3

It didn't take too long for the trio to find Credo. He was not far from Sparda, fighting a few demons. They were easily defeated by Credo, and upon victory, Credo turned, smiling at the sight of Sparda and the other two.

"Credo! I thought you were dead!" Nero smirked, stepping forward.

"I am dead, so don't get too comfortable with me being around again." Credo snorted.

"W-whatever." Nero paused, "So, are we going to find this douche-bag or what? He's got Kyrie."

Credo's brow raised, "He has my sister?!"

Sparda looked over to him, "Yes, and I suggest we go find him before he decides he's done with her."

Nero grabbed Sparda's shoulder, "I thought you said he wouldn't hurt her!"

"I said he wouldn't for now. There's no guarantee that he'll keep her alive for too much longer though."

"Dammit, then let's go!" Nero yelled, running off.

"Wait, we don't even...oh it's useless when it concerns Kyrie." Credo sighed.

Sparda smiled, "It's alright Credo, we just have to keep up with him."

Credo nodded, and began running after Nero, followed by Sparda and Dante, who shook his head, "Crap, that kid sure is truckin'."

Nero rushed through the streets of the city, not even stopping to fight any of the demons that kept on crawling out to attack him and the others. He kept running until he set eyes on something, a giant, undead looking eagle. It's left set of rib bones stuck out, and over half of it's body looked charred and mangled.

It flew downwards, landing somewhere on the outskirts of the city. Nero assumed that if it wasn't torturing survivors of the initial attack, it was with Mundus, helping him achieve some evil plan. Nero ran in the direction of the demon's landing.

Dante stopped when he saw the demon bird, and scratched his head, "Man, what is this? A demon reunion? Every demon I beat the **** out of within the last decade making it's reappearance or something?"

It took a good ten minutes before they arrived at the location, but Nero was spot on. Upon arrival, he saw the gigantic bird and Vergil, who turned to greet all four of them.

"Ah, what a surprise this is! I thought I felt your presence, Sparda! And look, you brought kids." Mundus laughed, "Hey, little Nero, look and see what I've got."

He laughed even more, pointing at Griffin, who was carrying an unconscious Kyrie in it's talons. The bird flapped it's wings, and set off, leaving Mundus behind with Nero and the others.

"You son of a bitch! LET HER GO!" Nero screamed in anger.

"Aw, that wouldn't bring any fun for me though." Mundus chuckled.

"You're sick!" Nero said shaking his head.

Credo tapped him gently on the shoulder, "Come, Nero. We'll go find the demon and Kyrie. Sparda and his other son should be able to stall Mundus for now."

Nero nodded, and the both of them began chasing the other demon down.

Mundus stared at Sparda through Vergil's eyes. There was a cold, hateful silence for several minutes, and then Mundus' booming laugh echoed though the area once more, "Ah, this is just...absolutely wonderful! High Realm has finally decided to show itself, and all of the Sparda bloodline are here, at the same time!"

"You've overstepped your boundaries Mundus. This time, there won't be any going back to Hell. You're going to die for good." Sparda replied.

"You don't understand! I've broken my power's limit! With my last defeat, I became stronger than even you, Sparda! Now the world, humanity, and even High Realm will fear, and bow before the power of me! King of the Underworld! No one can stand up to me! With this vessel I now control, the whole world will feel my absoluteness!"

"Brother, you're in for more of a shock than you expected." Lord Evangel said, walking in from behind Sparda, his long, yellow cape fluttering in the draft of the city's destruction. His white suit shined with gold trim, and the large, thin sword on his belt exuded pride and strength.

"Evangel?! You were supposed to be gone! I erased you from existence!" Mundus yelled.

"No, you only imprisoned me for a number of years, but when Sparda defeated you, your spell broke, and I was released from my captivity into High Realm, where I became ruler." Evangel nodded, short-cut blonde hair bobbing with every tilt of his head.

"What?! _You_ lead High Realm?!" Mundus asked in even more surprise, Vergil stepping forward.

"Yes, I do, and n-"

"It doesn't matter! You'll fall before me just the same! Prepare to worship that which is far greater than you will ever be! I will enslave every being in the cosmos, starting with you three!" Mundus screamed, rushing forward with Vergil, unsheathing _Yamato_.

Dante glanced over at Sparda and Evangel, "Let's kick his ass."

Vergil closed in, and Sparda, Dante and Evangel drew their swords, running right back at Vergil. A massive wave of energy burst outwards as all four blades clanged together.

Mundus yelled once more, "This will be the end of everything you are!"


	7. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

_Go...get em' kid...you're...the hero._

Nero chased down the giant demon all the way to the mountains outside of the city. It disappeared above the peak, so Nero started running up, climbing, using his Devil Bringer to reach high ledges; whatever he had to do to get to the top.

Nero was almost at the top when the rocks below his foot crumbled out from beneath him. He slipped, holding on by nothing but his demonic arm. "Dammit, Kyrie, I'm coming!" He yelled, pulling himself up, and climbing the rest of the way to the top.

At the top of the mountain was an old, battered down temple, looking a whole lot like a church. There was no roof, and the front side, along with a good bit of the right was completely gone. Nero could see a small waterfall trickling down the side of the mountain behind the church, leading down into a small river that was flowing away from the city.

"Ah, so you did come. Mundus told me that if I took the girl it would most likely divide your forces." The giant bird flapped down, landing in the middle of the church, still holding Kyrie.

"I am Griffin, one of Mundus' many demon generals." The bird still spoke.

"Yeah? Well, you look like a piece of **** to me! I'm so sick of all of these introductions and speeches. All of you demons just need to shut the hell up and die!" Nero yelled, shaking his fist. "Give me Kyrie!"

"Nero, I don't think we'll get her without a fight." Credo said, finally making it to the top of the mountain. He was in his devil state.

"He is correct, boy. I must not fail my master again, so unless I die, you do not get the girl." Griffin set Kyrie down behind him. There was a pause, and then Griffin's mandible-like beak spread apart, a fowl shriek erupting from it.

An immense rumbling shook the ground, and within seconds, Phantom burst through the ground at the side of the church, "Oh! Look who it is! I guess we're gunna have another go at it, eh?"

Nero and Credo glanced at both of the demons, pulling their swords out, and Nero stared at Kyrie, retorting, "Yeah, I guess we are. This time...no losers. Just winners!"

Phantom jumped into the sky, and Griffin flew up with him. Phantom fell back down next to Nero, and the two immediately commenced in combat, while Griffin began charging up a red beam of lightning in his mouth, which he unleashed at Credo, who blocked it with the remnant of his Aegis Shield.

-----

Dante had just been knocked away from Vergil, when Sparda managed to knock _Yamato_ out of his hands. Losing his weapon, Mundus reverted to using Vergil's summoned swords, throwing them at everyone in sight. Dante managed to blast the ones flying at him away with his pistols, and Sparda deflected them with a sword that looked fairly similar to _Force Edge_. Evangel was the only one who was hit, but only one managed to cut him across his shoulder.

"I'm going to kill you all!" Mundus shouted, before rolling over to Vergil's katana and pulling it from the ground, devil triggering as he grabbed it.

"So you want to play rough, huh?" Dante laughed, smiling as he devil triggered as well.

Sparda came next, followed by Evangel. The three continued to clash blades for the next five minutes or so, releasing massive bursts of energy with every strike. It continued until Dante finally ran _Rebellion_ through Vergil's gut, upon which Vergil, not Mundus, grunted in pain.

Vergil pushed away, and Mundus' voice came back, shouting at the three, "Ugh! Damn you!" The comment was followed by the retreat of Vergil, who began running in the same direction the Nero and Credo took.

-----

Nero revved up the sword, becoming so angry with the spider demon that he involuntarily devil triggered. No longer in possession of _Yamato_ only changed the appearance of the spectre that normally helped Nero. It was no longer there, but Nero still glowed a bright blue color, and his eyes shined red. He put all of his strength into one swing, releasing the sword's heated liquid as well, and managed to cut off one of Phantom's entire legs. The spider demon screamed in pain and anger as lava-blood spewed from his new stub.

"Eat that you bastard!" Nero's voice rasped as he went in for another attack. It was interrupted by the arrival of a new enemy, Mundus.

Vergil's body came flying over the edge, and he landed gracefully on his feet, running into the church. Phantom fell back into the church as well, still grunting in absolute pain, and was followed by Griffin who unleashed one more wave of lightning bolts at Credo, who dodged them all, before landing.

Shortly following Mundus was Dante, Sparda and Evangel, who all came racing onto the top of the mountain as well.

Sparda stepped forward, "Mundus, you're trapped now. You've nowhere else to run, so this ends here!"

Vergil stepped forward, shaking his fist as Mundus spoke, "You haven't any clue of what I'm capable of doing! So keep your mouth closed Sparda, or I'll rip it off and keep it as a trophy!"

Evangel shook his head, "Mundus, Sparda is right. This place is where your life will come to an end. You might as well fight us with honor."

"With honor? What do _you_ know about honor?! You who tried to steal my throne all of those years ago! You're nothing but a low life scum!"

Dante chimed in, "Even I've beaten your face in before, so you might as well give up. I'm getting kind of hungry, so it'd be nice if you'd surrender or die."

Credo and Nero both stepped forward, Credo being the first to talk, looking at Dante, "He will not surrender to us. He will only die before us."

Dante glanced back at Credo, "Way to ruin my fun."

Mundus yelled, "You're all a bunch of idiotic animals!"

He continued to scream at them, but something caught Nero's eye, "Kyrie?"

Kyrie, still laying at the back of the church, was beginning to move, and when she looked up, she saw Vergil, recognizing him as the man who captured her. She attempted to stand, struggling to walk, and picked up a fist sized rock. Stumbling silently over to Vergil, she held the rock high, about to knock it over the side of his head, when _Yamato_ quickly and effortlessly slid into her stomach. The rock tumbled out of her hands and onto the ground, Kyrie following.

"KYRIE! YOU SON OF A BITCH!" Nero screamed, dashing forward and leaping into the air, _Red Queen_ at his side.

"Kid!" Dante yelled after him, shaking his head and sprinting forward with _Rebellion_.

Credo's eyes widened, and he too followed into battle.

Evangel and Sparda exchanged quick looks, and rushed in as well.

Vergil smiled, mimicked by Mundus. Vergil, Phantom and Griffin charged into the oncoming five, and the battle began.

Chapter 6: Part 2

Nero came at the Mundus-controlled Vergil from the air with a powerful downward strike, eyes glowing red. Vergil hopped away and snapped his fingers. Phantom faded away from his fight with Dante and Sparda, appearing in front of Nero. A shriek of fear was all the Phantom could manage as Nero sliced through him like butter.

"You're going to pay for this, Mundus." Nero said, almost oblivious to the fact that he'd just mutilated Phantom's face, splitting it in half.

Nero used the half of Phantom's head that remained attached to his fiery body to propel him back up into the air so he could come down on Vergil once more. Phantom finally began screaming in pain, rampaging in wide circles, destroying more of the church wall and nearly crushing Dante with a stray step.

"C'mon kid, finish up the job, don't just leave me to do the dirty work." Dante yelled out before annihilating Phantom with a powerful stinger strike to the inside of the neck. The spider demon flailed wildly before flipping over and crumpling in, disintegrating.

Vergil snarled, planting his feet on the back church wall and blasting forward, crashing right into Nero, both of them grunting in slight pain. Vergil attempted to slash at Nero, but Nero grabbed his arm and snapped it, "I'm going to KILL you!"

Nero then grabbed Vergil by the face, spinning around in midair before flinging him into Griffin, who was preoccupied with Credo and Evangel. Both smashed down into the ground, but Vergil shot back up off of the ground right back into Nero, snapping his arm back into place before cutting Nero clean across the chest. Blood sprayed out onto Vergil, and Nero hit the ground, clawing at his wound.

Vergil landed on Nero, crushing him with his boots. A quick shot from his pistol, and Nero knocked Vergil away, hopping back up before coming at him with _Red Queen_ from the left. The sword caught Vergil in the stomach, slashing it open. Mundus growled, making Vergil devil trigger once more. The wound quickly healed, and Vergil launched back at Nero in attack.

Nero deflected the sword, kicking Vergil in the chin. Vergil was lifted into the air and Nero jumped up, grabbing him by the ankle and throwing him back down. Vergil impacted, forming a crater, and Nero mimicked his previous move, landing on him, but Nero drove _Red Queen_ into his chest. Vergil cringed in pain, before kicking Nero away, and sliding his body up the sword, until he painfully made his way to the hilt, where a bone-crunching pop occurred upon his standing up.

Grabbing Nero's sword, Vergil charged forward, cutting Nero across the face with _Yamato_ and driving _Red Queen_ through his gut. With the sword in his stomach, Nero grabbed Vergil with his Devil Bringer arm, and smashed him face first into the ground three times, and then threw him into the nearby wall.

Vergil smashed into the wall and bounced off, hitting the ground. Nero ripped _Red Queen_ out of his body, and jumped back on Vergil for a second time, raising the sword above his head and screaming as it came down, cutting the air. A stray blade knocked Nero's sword out of his hand.

Dante tackled Nero off of Vergil, "If you keep this up, you'll just kill Vergil, not Mundus."

"Get the hell off of me!" Nero kicked Dante off, and whipped out _Blue Rose_, firing at Dante in craze from what happened to Kyrie.

Dante fired his pistols back from the air, deflecting the bullets fired at him, "Hey! C'mon kid, I'm not the enemy! You're fighting the wrong person!"

Nero snarled, and stopped firing at Dante, instead looking at Griffin, who was currently firing more lightning beams at Credo and Evangel, and now Sparda. Nero jumped up, and kicked off of the ground, flying towards Griffin, and grabbed him by the wing, planting his feet on Griffin's mangled body. From there, he tore the wing off and jabbed it into Griffin's head with the sharp edge of the bone sticking out like a spear. Griffin screeched, spiraling downward until a violent crash completely snapped his neck. Griffin disintegrated.

Nero landed, looking back at Vergil, who's limp body began to float and glow. Rays of light beamed outwards and then Vergil's body fell lifeless to the ground. A small, white, glowing orb was left in the air, and began to fly away.

Sparda yelled, "Quick! After the light, it's Mundus."

Upon the words being said, the light came speeding back and flew into Lord Evangel. Words echoed through the area, "Brother Evangel, this is what happens when you defy me and attempt to stop demon-kind from taking over."

Evangel began to float in the air, unable to control where he moved. He began to flail as his skin cracked and blood flowed out. Evangel screamed in agony before exploding. The light then retreated, leaving a bloody pile on the ground.

Credo screamed, and rushed to the side of what remained of Evangel. Dante ran over to Vergil, slumping him over his shoulder, and ran after the light. Sparda reassured Credo that they'd see Evangel again, and the both of them set off after the light as well.

Nero stood, looking across the battlefield, and rushed over to Kyrie's side. She was pale, and blood trickled from her wound. She rolled over into Nero's arms from laying on her side, and lightly opened her eyes, smiling at the sight of him.

"Kyrie? Come on, Kyrie! You can live through this!" Nero put his hand on her face.

She opened her mouth and spoke very softly, "Nero, I'm sorry."

"Sorry...why are you sorry?" Nero asked, already feeling tears trail down his cheek.

"I didn't mean to...go so soon. I wanted us...to...be together." She said, a tear trickling down her cheek as well.

"Kyrie, it's not your fault. Don't die, please...no!"

"Nero, I wish...I didn't...have to tell you...this now."

"Tell me what? Don't be afraid, Kyrie." Nero caressed her cheek, wiping the tear away with his thumb.

"You...were going to be...a father." She said, trying to keep the gentle smile on her face.

Nero lost the ability to speak, eyes widening. His tears fell down onto her cheeks, making little splashes as they landed on her smooth skin.

"Nero, I love you." She told him, before closing her eyes.

"K-Kyrie...Kyrie? No...please no, not now! Kyrie! Talk to me! KYRIEEE!" Nero's scream blasted out over the mountains.

"MUNDUS! YOU KILLED HER! YOU SON OF A BITCH, YOU KILLED HER!"

Chapter 6: Part 3

Nero couldn't stop screaming. He didn't want to either. He let all of the anger, hate and sadness flow out of him. What he didn't notice was that his entire body had ignited in a blue flame.

Nero screamed so loud and so hard that his body almost locked in the position he was in, kneeling over Kyrie, facing the sky, arms outstretched.

The mountains around him began to crack. Even the fires in the city below danced away from the might of his scream. Far away, Dante and the others even heard it.

Nero's skin began fading into another color. The bright blue skin tone on his right arm was now covering his entire body, and the bronze plating on his arm was beginning to bulge out of his skin all over. The pain began to kick in, making him scream even harder. His pupils and iris' turned black, and the whites of his eyes turned a deep, blood-red color. Horns rose from his scalp, and all over his body, ridged rows of spikes formed at his joints.

Nero bashed his hands into the ground, sending a shockwave of energy up through the ground. The mountain behind the church cracked and the waterfall increased in size by two times, crashing down into the stream below violently. Half of the city's fire flickered and died out. Dante and the others felt a wave of energy vibrate through the ground below them.

Nero lifted into the air, and a giant pair of wings exploded out from his back. Feathers flew all about, as the thick, white, angel-like wings with golden, laced tips fluttered and flapped.

Nero screamed louder, still unable to control his anger and pain, and the rest of the church and the large, protruding bits of mountain surrounding it came crashing down on him.

Several minutes passed when the rubble around Nero began to glow, and he exploded outward, flying up into the sky. He turned in the direction of the others, and his voice rasped as he spoke to himself, "Mundus, I'm coming for you. And this time, you will not escape."

His wings softly carried him higher into the air, where he began flying speedily towards the others, while Kyrie laid quietly below the rubble of the church, buried in a fitting place.


	8. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

The light that was Mundus had led everyone out of the mountains and into a small forest. It was getting darker too. The moon was peaking up above the horizon, and a few stars twinkled in the sky.

They kept running and jumping from tree to tree until Mundus led them into an open field. It was almost a perfect circle within the trees. The light stopped, and Mundus voice echoed, "This is where you all meet your doom!"

Dante and the others hesitated, when all of the sudden, the light turned into a huge, black portal, inhaling everything. Dante attempted to resist, but he, along with Vergil, was the first to get sucked in. Credo came next, followed by Sparda.

Upon landing in wherever they were, Dante set Vergil down, looking around, "Okay...I'm getting kind of ****ed off. This day has been filled up with more portals than some freaky dance video."

Credo and Sparda glanced at him. Dante raised a brow, "It's just the honest to God truth."

Sparda shook his head, "Son, you're not how I imagined you at all."

Dante smirked, "I'm my own man."

Credo was about to add another comment, but as he turned around, _Yamato_ was swiftly put to his throat by a very angry Vergil.

Dante backed off a bit, "Calm down bro, he's on our side."

Vergil snarled, holding at his gut, "What happened? Who is he? Where the hell are we?"

Dante shook his head, chuckling, "Come on now, put'cher damned sword away. We can explain everything later, but right now, we gotta give big daddy demon a big baddy spanking."

Vergil paused, "Mundus...that's the last thing I remember. Seeing Mundus' statue."

"Makes sense, he took your ass over...again." Dante laughed, dusting off his jacket, "Now put your sword down and come on."

Vergil nodded, putting _Yamato_ away, leaving Credo to rub his throat uncomfortably, "Thank you, Dante."

Dante shrugged, walking away, Vergil following. Credo looked over to Sparda, "So, did we get moved to Mundus' insides?"

Sparda raised his brow, confused, "I honestly can't answer that right now. Let's just hope not."

Walking down the hall that they were placed in, which was terribly devoid of any detail, minus a few fancy looking torches on the walls, Dante and the other three came to a door.

Vergil stared at Dante, "Go ahead and open it."

"You open it you sissy." Dante retorted.

"I'm the older of us..._you_ open the door." Vergil's brows furrowed.

"No. I refuse to open it when I don't know what's behind there." Dante shook his head, smiling.

"But we both know you've had more than enough experience figuring out 'what's behind there'. And that's not just with doors." Vergil chuckled.

"Hey, you shut the hell up! That was one time way back when we were still stupid teenagers and he-she had a smokin' hot body." Dante snarled.

Vergil laughed, kicking him into the door, busting it down. The other side was huge. Dante got up, staring at what had to be bigger than a skyscraper in height, and wider than about two football fields. They were looking at an excavation site...demon style.

There were cherubs, goatmen, lizard demons, and a ton of other varieties of workers mining rocks, digging in the ground, or creating tools. Way at the very bottom, a lake of lava spat angrily, occasionally burning an unfortunate passer-by.

Dante smirked, getting up from the ground and peaking over the railing of the bridge that the door opened up to, "Heh, look at that. Demon slave labor."

Credo and Sparda walked out behind Vergil, looking over as well. Sparda sighed, "I know where we are."

Vergil looked at Sparda for the first time now, and had the same reaction that Dante originally did, "Wait...father?"

Sparda turned, staring at Vergil, "Yes, it's me."

Vergil clicked _Yamato_ forward, unlatching it from it's sheath, "It's been a long time. I've got questions."

"I have answers, son, but now isn't the best time." Sparda sighed, "Despite the fact that Mundus retreated, the world is still under demon-siege. We must hurry if we are to have any hope of getting civilization back up to working condition."

Vergil snarled, "You'd better stay here long enough."

Dante gave Vergil a pat on the back, "It's okay, Vergy. I think he's got plans to tell us a few bed time stories before he runs off in the middle of the night."

Credo shook his head, looking at Sparda, "As you were saying, you know where we are?"

"Yes. This is a production facility. Perhaps the two most important creations to originate here were Nightmare, and it's counterpart, Nightmare-B." Sparda sighed.

Dante raised a brow, frowning, "Aw, you ****tin' me? Sludge galore?"

Sparda nodded.

Chapter 7: Part 2

_You know, I didn't think he was serious._

Dante stepped away from the railing, walking back into the group, "So, daddy-o, what's on the other side of this bridge?

Sparda looked at Dante, "An elevator. It's the central form of transportation, along with blimp-like vehicles, but I haven't seen any of those yet. The elevator leads through all nine of the levels in this place. Every level has a different purpose."

A voice interrupted everyone's thinking, "Too bad you won't be getting to the elevator, Sparda."

A female figure closed in on the group from across the bridge. Sparda raised his eye brows in surprise, "Tiamat...I thought I killed you already."

"And kill me, you did. But Mundus has his ways around." Tiamat smiled, stopping a few yards away from everyone.

Dante chimed in, "Oh yeah, lady...we've all witnessed his ability to bring back you poor suckers. And you know. You keep dying. Waste of his time if you ask me."

"Oh, you've got quite a yapper on you. I like my men to have a dirty mouth." She grinned evilly. Her raven-black hair fell from behind her head, and two, gigantic bird wings jutted out of her back. In her right hand formed a rather large scythe.

Vergil shook his head, "You really think you can handle all four of us, hag?"

Credo looked at Vergil, pulling out his sword, "Now now, I think we should give her chance. After all, she's the guardian of the nine levels of hell."

Vergil spat, "We haven't the time for this. Out of the way, wench."

Dante chuckled, "Damn, Vergil, you sure have a way with the babes."

"She's not a _babe_. She's a filthy witch." Vergil snarled, "And she's really getting on my nerves."

Sparda glanced at Vergil, "Calm yourself son."

"Don't talk to me like you're actually my dad. Honestly, you were dead to me when you left us." Vergil frowned.

Tiamat laughed loudly, "Enough of this senseless talking! Let's get on with the tango. I wouldn't mind a few new boy-toys."

Vergil finally lost his patience, darting forward, quickly unleashing the full power of _Yamato_ into one, precise strike to Tiamat's neck.

She gurgled, trying to speak, but instead only spitting up blood, and smiled. The giant scythe spun around and caught Vergil in the back, and she swung him off of it, into Credo.

Dante smirked, "Damn. Lady-friend's got some _pow-wa_." He chuckled before stretching his arms out with his twin pistols and blasting away at her.

She laughed, coughing up blood with every giggle, as her body became riddled with bullet holes. Dante stopped firing, and Tiamat stood there. Her body slowly healed itself in front of everyone, and the blood on her seeped back into her skin.

Dante grinned, "Well ****, I'm startin' to like this chick."

Sparda leaped into the air, sword high above his head, and sliced her in half. Both halves formed a new Tiamat, and both Tiamat's laughed at Sparda before attacking him at the same time. Sparda smiled, recognizing the technique.

Deflecting a few of her attacks, Sparda yelled out to Vergil, "Take the elevator to the third level. That is where you will most likely find Mundus."

Credo and Dante joined in the fighting, leaving Vergil to dust his jacket off. He snarled and dashed into the fight, planting his foot on one of the Tiamat's shoulders, launching himself past her and into the elevator, where he shut the door and punched in the third button from the bottom.

The elevator screeched, and began rumbling down to the lower levels. Vergil sighed, "Of course I get picked to go find Mundus. Of course I don't get to settle the score with that hag for taunting me. Of course-" The elevator stopped. Something sounded as if it snapped, and then the elevator began plummeting into free-fall.

Vergil yelled in fury, "Of course every damned thing in this day has got to screw up in some way or another!"

Chapter 7: Part 3

Tiamat already had four of herself running around, fighting everyone when Sparda decided it was time to send Dante off. "Dante, see if you can get to the fifth level. With any luck, the main power source for this whole place should still be in there."

Dante shrugged, and looked at Sparda before blasting off the head of one of the Tiamats, "Shouldn't you have sent Vergil to level five, and me to level three? What if Mundus does his juju-takeover **** again?"

"He won't. Even if Mundus wanted to, he wouldn't be able to take Vergil over again. He won't have enough power." Sparda explained, rolling out of the way of a scythe, quickly separating the legs of the attacker from her body.

"How do you figure that? We're in his crib now. He's got the home-field advantage." Dante shook his head, kicking another one of the attackers over the edge. Pointless attempt at a kill, as she just flew back up.

"Mundus expended the vast majority of his power on Earth. That still takes effect here. He just needs to spend less time rejuvenating. That should give Vergil the edge he needs to get in a few revenge shots before the rest of us can group back up with him. Now go, Dante!" Sparda said, all the while fighting away the vicious Tiamat clones.

Dante nodded, waving a goodbye with his pistol before running off to the elevator, which was, much to his dismay, apparently destroyed. The more he listened, the easier it became to hear his ****ed off brother a good ways down. Dante dropped.

Upon landing, his eyes met with Vergil's, and they both exchanged a look of discomfort before Dante spoke, "Allo dearest brother o' mine. How's life in the shaft?"

"Dante...one of these days, it will be your head in my trophy case." Vergil snorted, looking away.

The elevator had landed on level one. Level one wasn't anything but an excavation site. Vergil kicked the door down, and walked out. A whole lot of demons turned to check out the newcomer, and a whole lot of demons began running at the site of both sons.

Dante smiled, "Well look at that. These bastards just made our lives a lot easier."

Vergil turned to look at Dante, instead noticing what was behind the elevator. Yes, it was big enough to tower over the box. Dante turned to see what Vergil was staring at, and turned back around, grossed out by the site of what looked to be a large demon covered in feces, bile, and other visceral things. Actually, it looked to be _made_ of the stuff.

A guttural sound was heard, before the thing's booming, baby-like laughter echoed through the work site, "HEHEHE, RENALDO GET NEW PWAY FWIENDS?"

Vergil's eyes widened, and his left brow instantly shot up in sheer terror. Dante refused to look at it, eyes also wide. He began slowly walking away, right past a petrified Vergil.

"RENALDO WANT PWAY! PWAY PWAY PWAY PWAY!!!" The large demon yelled in a whiny fashion, before stepping forward rather quickly.

Vergil backed away, tripping on himself, and the thing laughed. "YAY...BLUE WANT PWAY WITH RENALDO!"

"God no!" Vergil said before leaping up and running away. As he made it past Dante, he shouted, "Go ahead, Dante! Kill it."

A chill went up his spine before Dante made a strange moaning noise, and began running right behind Vergil, "You kill it!"

"NO!" Vergil retorted

"Agh, the thing is gaining on us!" Dante screamed.

Vergil glanced over his shoulder, "It's just not...sanitary to have something like that running around."

Dante glanced back as well, "Maybe that's what everything else ran from."

Vergil furrowed his brows, horrified by the amazing leap that the demon made. It practically flew over to them, landing in between them and whatever escape there had been.

"UGH! BLUE AND WED NO WANT PWAY? PWAY WITH ME!!! AAAAAGGGH! YOU MAKE RENALDO SAD AND ANGWY!" Wherever it's eyes were, Dante was certain they were staring straight at him, peering into his soul. Vergil felt the same way.

Dante turned his head in Vergil's direction, still staring at the demon, "So, hotshot, what now?"

"Uhm...I don't know. You come up with the plan." Vergil felt a drop of sweat trickle down his cheek. He wasn't sure if it was from stress or the lava lake next to them.

Dante sighed, stepping forward, "Ugh, hey little fella. H-how are ya?"

"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA, YOU SOUNDS FUUUUNNY. RENALDO IS WELL. YOU WANT PWAY?"

"Y-yeah...sure. You know what?" Dante gritted his teeth, playing along with whatever the thing was thinking.

"AHAA, WHAT? WED WANT PWAY?"

"Yeah, but first you gotta go over there and get us a big ball! It's right in there...right inside of that orange stuff." Dante said, pointing both fingers at the lava lake.

"HAHA, YOU SILLY. THERE NO BALL IN THAT STUFF. THAT STUFF HURT RENALDO."

Dante laughed in a fake manner, "Well...uhm...there's a ball in there now! And, I can make it not hurt!"

The thing gasped, "YOU CAN?! WOW! DO IT DO IT DO IT!"

Dante nodded, smiling and looked at the lava. He began swirling his arms around in a circular motion. Vergil's mouth fell open and he became even more frightened, "Dante...what in the world do you think you're doing?!"

"Shut the hell up, Vergil." Dante whispered.

"IS IT WORKING?!" The thing yelled excitedly.

Dante looked over at the demon and smiled, before waving his hands frantically at the lake, making a _whoosh_ sound with his mouth. "There you go! Now go get us that ball! Hurry! I can't hold this awesome magic in place for much longer!" Dante said, holding his arms out as if he were struggling with some greater force of power.

"AHA! OKAY!" The thing laughed before running far off into the lake. And then it began to scream, "OW OW OW, THIS HURTS! BURNING ME. WHY AM I BURNING, WED?! OW OW OUCH, I THOUGHT YOU SAID IT WOULDN'T HURT RENALDO ANYMORE! WHERE'S THE BALL! RENALDO STILL GET BALL FOR WED! OW!"

It searched frantically, it's outsides beginning to pop and bleed, split and fester up like a wad of pus. It still screamed in pain. Dante let his arms drop, and he smirked, "Adios, Renaldo."

"BUT WED AND BLUE AWE RENALDO'S FWIENDS! USE MORE POWA! IT HURTS! RENALDO STILL CAN'T FIND BALL!" Renaldo screamed before beginning a long line of shrieks and shrills, still slowly being burnt alive by the fire. It all ended when Renaldo finally sank under the lava.

Vergil's mouth had never been opened farther in all of Dante's life, and he turned his head very slowly to stare at him, "You're one sick man, Dante."

"Get's the job done."


	9. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Dante and Vergil quickly made their way across the first level, looking for a way up. Vergil sighed, seeing no other way than the broken elevator, "Dante...we might-" Vergil didn't even get to finish speaking as Dante came to the same one-way conclusion and grabbed him by the collar, twirling around three times and then hurling him up into the air, "Alley-oop!"

Vergil flew straight up, smashing into the ceiling of the fourth level. Dante took several steps back, and then ran forward, kicking off of the wall and flying up to the fourth floor as well. "That was easy, eh?" Dante sighed, smiling. Vergil slid out of the ceiling, smashing into the floor, "Dammit! Dante, don't do that!"

"Oh hush ya pansy." Dante smiled, looking over to Vergil, "Alright, you go down one, I'll go up one."

Vergil looked over the edge to the floor below, "What are you down here for?"

"Who the hell cares? I'm supposed to kill a few demons and destroy a few things." Dante nodded.

"So simple-minded." Vergil sighed, and hopped down.

Dante chuckled and jumped up one more level. Upon landing, he felt an immediate sense of danger, and seemingly answering his sense, a large, slimy spike tore through the wall, cutting Dante's jacket. Dante jumped back, pulling out _Rebellion_, "Man...that was sure quick of you. Don't you want to have a nice chat and some tea?"

A howling screech escaped through the gash in the wall, followed by the wall itself crashing down. Sludge slithered outward as the head of the colossal being poked out of the hole, and deep, guttural sounding laughter pierced Dante's ears.

"****, you look different than the other guy." Dante smiled.

Sludge spat out from what was apparently the things head as it began to speak, "You encountered a small portion of something great! Nightmare A, which is who I presume you encountered on Mallet Island, was nothing more than a sentient weapon. I am a God among demon-kind. I am Nightmare C! Bringer of Death and Destruction!"

Dante scratched his head, pretending to be confused, "A, C, B, D...D? I'm not absolutely positive...but I think you got'cher ABCs all mixed up. You see, it goes A, B, C, D, E-"

"YOU DARE JEST WITH ME?!" The demon screamed in unhindered fury.

"I'm just pointing out a simple fact...no need to get mean with me." Dante glanced around.

"I...you...BAH! PREPARE TO BE OBLITERATED!" Nightmare screamed as his arm, which now seemed to be gigantic, smashed through the rest of the wall, and morphed into what looked to be the original Nightmare. The beam on the front side of the arm rapidly powered up and blasted Dante before he could even move. Dante flew across the floor, sliding into Nightmare's other arm, which grabbed him tightly and began to crush the life out of him, before hammering him into the ground. The hand clenched tightly together, and raised into the air before falling back toward Dante.

Dante rolled out of the way, and threw his sword at Nightmare's head, impaling what he thought was an eye. Nightmare yelled out in pain, before charging up his weapon arm. Dante took advantage of his size, and jumped on his back, hugging up against the wall. He pulled out _Ebony and Ivory_ and began pouring bullets into the small amount of Nightmare's back that was protruding out of the wall.

The weapon arm on Nightmare then detached itself, and turned to face Dante, releasing the beam on him anyway. Dante smacked the wall and bounced off. Nightmare laughed, as tentacles slithered out of his arm stub, and reattached the weapon to his body. Dante rolled over and fired more shots at Nightmare's head, loosening his sword until fell into the ground. Dante slipped his pistols in their holsters and rushed over to Rebellion, grabbing it and swiping upward. Nightmare's head slid off, and splatted on the ground.

"And so the giant falls." Dante laughed, dusting off his jacket and walking away. Then Nightmare's normal arm flew into him, flinging him back in front of the rest of the body.

Nightmare's head rolled over to face Dante, "Ha, not quite!" Nightmare laughed once more before his head split into two halves and began morphing. Within moments, two human-sized, sludge demons formed, both wielding a smaller version of Nightmare's weapon arm, and a small blade in the other.

"This fight just got fun." Dante smirked.

Chapter 8: Part 2

Both of the demons that formed dashed forward and jumped, letting their knees plow into Dante's stomach. Dante grunted, but simply kicked them away. Landing on the ground like a pair of cats, both of them began firing their weapon arms rapidly, almost faster than Dante could fire both of his pistols.

Dante knocked away some of the beams with his sword, before getting hit with a dozen more. His body hit the ground, smoking, but Dante jumped back up, spinning his sword around as a trick, and smirked, "That all you got?"

The demon on the left howled before leaping forward, slashing away at Dante with it's blade arm. Dante deflected all of the attacks and then sliced the demon in half. Both parts of it's body hit the ground and then bounced back into eachother, forming a whole again. The other demon landed on Dante from above, enveloping itself around him, and then seemingly super-heating it's body with the beam particles.

Dante devil-triggered, sending bits and pieces of sludge and metal in every direction as the demon around him exploded. Surprised, Dante was hit by Nightmare's arm, and knocked away. He flipped over to once again see both demons flying towards him, and now see Nightmare's body, minus the head, crawling the rest of the way out of the hole.

Nightmare A split itself from the body and started slithering it's way to Dante, to assist the other two. Dante pulled out his pistols and began unloading a hail of demonically enhanced bullets at the demons. One of them managed to get shot down, but the other landed on Dante, putting it's weapon in his face and blasting. The shot formed a crater in the ground around Dante and the demon, and was increased by two when Nightmare A fired it's beam at Dante as well.

Dante jabbed his sword through the demon on top of him, jumping out of the hole, and slung it at Nightmare A. The two melded together, and Nightmare A became slightly larger. Dante growled, before the other demon jumped on his back, recovered from the swath of bullets that Dante hit it with earlier. It's blade slid into Dante's lower back, before it was ripped away by Dante's powerful grip. Dante then threw the demon into the ground, pulling off a Stinger strike from the air. The demon exploded once more, and this time, it did not reform. The larger Nightmare's body had finally made it out of the hole, and now it was sliding down the levels, landing on the first one.

Dante's eyes widened as the thing stood up, so immense that it managed to stand the full length of the entire work-site. Dante stared up, seeing that even without a head, it towered above the bridge that Sparda and Credo had stayed on to fight Tiamat. Then another beam from Nightmare A sprayed into his side, and he was sent over the edge, knocked into the side of Nightmare's leg. Trying to escape, Dante clawed at the leg, but it was no use, and he was sucked in.

-----

Sparda and Credo had now been fighting something upwards of a dozen Tiamat's when the gigantic, sludge-like being made it's headless appearance. Sparda, Credo, and even all of the Tiamat clones, were now staring at the huge demon. Then it's arm smashed into the bridge, utterly destroying it. Debris, along with Sparda and all of the others, was now free-falling. The same arm that destroyed the bridge grabbed them all up from the air, and sucked them in.

Everything went black, and Sparda began hearing screams of pain and agony. Sparda still felt as though he was falling, until he hit something flat and organic feeling. Vision coming back, Sparda was stuck in an area that seemed to be the insides of the thing. He looked around. Gassy, hazy clouds floated about, and drops of goo and other liquids sprinkled down on him as distant pulses and beats could be heard. Dante grabbed Sparda's leg, "Fancy seeing you here...whaddya say we get reacquainted over a beer?"

Sparda shook his head, still looking around at the inside of the demon, "I...think we should find away out of this thing first."

Then Credo's voice was heard, "Agreed, Sparda. But just how do we do that?" He asked, crawling over to them from behind what looked to be a massive, fleshy rock.

Dante smiled, "I...have done this before. It's kinda like a game at the arcade. You just gotta find the big guy...and viola! Beat the **** out of him and we get out."

"It's not that easy boy!" Phantom screamed out, crawling over the edge of the platform they were all on. Griffin and Tiamat flew up above him, accompanied by around twenty, flying skulls.

"I remember those things too!" Dante smiled, "Let's get this party started!"

Chapter 8: Part 3

Vergil had been stalking around on the third level when the giant sludge demon appeared. He simply paid no mind to it and continued on through one of the few doors. Walking through the door, a thought actually did strike him, and he spoke out-loud to no one in particular, "How does something that big fit in the walls?"

Vergil actually stopped in the middle of the corridor, and pondered on the subject for a while, before shrugging and advancing through the large hall. He passed many doors along the way, but none of them seemed important enough to go through. He was on a single-minded mission to go destroy Mundus, and this time, he would not be possessed.

It was upon reaching the end of the hall, and meeting a large pair of fancy, hand crafted, stone doors, that he finally took the initiative to open any doors, and of course...it was the fancy ones. The room Vergil stepped into was absent of any sentient being. There was a rather massive quantity of torture devices, statues of Mundus, tools that performed unknowable things, and tubes protruding from the ceiling, all leading into a small pod. Save for a few, dim torches, the pod and tubes were the only things glowing, and they glowed a very, bright blue color.

The sound of air escaping a pressurized space was heard, as steam rolled out of the sides of the pod. Menacing laughter followed. A laugh that Vergil recognized as his own. The pod's door slid open as a tall set of black, blue-accented armor stepped out. Horns curved outward from the things head, and a purple cape fluttered from it's back.

Vergil snarled, "Nelo Angelo. It's been quite a while since we've graced eachother with the others presence. I didn't think Mundus would be so desperate as to animate a _set of armor_ though..."

Nelo seemed to grunt at the statement, before extending his arms out to either side of himself. Everything in the room smashed into the walls on the side, leaving a nice, wide-open area in the center.

"We're just meeting for the first time in years, and you're already wanting to fight? Foolish. I'd hoped maybe you'd see things my way, and just go ahead and die. This fight won't be in your favor."

Nelo laughed once more before a long, black, broadsword appeared in his hand, and he jumped forward. Vergil hopped back, unsheathing _Yamato_ and deflecting the first wave of powerful attacks that Nelo threw at him. Each strike of swords sent out massive shock-waves, knocking everything in the room around even more.

Vergil retaliated with his own group of swipes, managing to get past Nelo's sword and slice him several times. A few shards of armor fell off before Nelo kicked Vergil away, and formed several blue blades in the air around him. Vergil raised a brow, "Have no moves of your own?"

Vergil chuckled before the three blades rammed into his chest, pinning him to the wall. He laughed, devil-triggering, destroying the blades, and then formed his own. He concentrated all of his power into making one, huge sword. Then he threw it. It hit Nelo with such explosive force, that everything around the area of impact was disintegrated.

A shriek of anger let Vergil know that Nelo was still there before he came flying out of the dust that was kicked up. Vergil kicked off of the wall he was still on, and brought _Yamato_ up high into the air, coming down on Nelo's blade, which was being swung upward. Their swords clanged against eachother several more times before Nelo bounced back, sticking out one of his hands. A blue ball of fire ignited in his hand, and expanded until it was about as large as Vergil's chest, and he chucked it forward.

Vergil cut through the fireball, splitting it into two halves. Nelo growled, rapidly throwing more at Vergil. Vergil effortlessly dodged them all, getting closer to Nelo with each attack, until he was finally close enough to destroy the lower part of Nelo's head with a powerful upward knee. Nelo flew back, cracking the tiled floor as he landed. Vergil walked over to him, and kicked him into the nearby wall. Nelo ricocheted off and caught the bridge of Vergil's nose with the tip of his sword.

Vergil stumbled back and growled, infuriated at the occurrence. Taking _Yamato_, he jumped forward and thrust the blade into Nelo's gut. The suit of armor paused, not moving for several seconds, when Vergil was hit with another magical sword from behind. Nelo took advantage of the surprise attack, and grabbed _Yamato_, Vergil still clinging onto the hilt, pulling it out of himself, and slinging it away. Vergil followed, hitting the ceiling. Falling down, he sliced at Nelo. Another shard of armor fell away, and blue light began to peek out of Nelo.

Vergil smirked, but was hit but Nelo's sword once more. The strike knocked him out of his devil-triggered state, but it wasn't enough to hinder his fighting abilities. Vergil spun through the air, letting the back of his foot slide across Nelo's face. Nelo spun as well, hitting the ground. Flipping over, Nelo threw another fireball at Vergil, hopping up. Vergil smacked it back with the back of his hand, and it hit Nelo instead. Nelo's helmet flew off, revealing nothing but a mist of blue.

The headless suit pounced on Vergil, punching him before getting knocked away. Vergil stabbed Nelo in the gut again, and ripped the sword from his side. Nelo fell to the ground, losing more of his armor. Nelo's sword slid from his hands, as the demon possessed armor attempted to crawl away. Vergil strode forward slowly, planting his foot on Nelo's chest. Sheathing _Yamato_, he put one finger up, and waved it from side to side, "Tsk tsk...at least you put up more of a fight than I expected."

Vergil jabbed his hand into the chest of the armor, and devil-triggered once more, absorbing the suit. The armor appeared on him, and he moved around, just to make sure that he was still in control. He smiled in approval, transforming back into his normal self, "A nice addition, but still not what I wanted."

Mundus voice echoed through the room, "_Well done, Vergil. You'll have to do more than that to get to me, though._"

Vergil frowned, as a small portal appeared in the room. Looking through it, Vergil could see a chess-board on the other side.

"I don't want to play games..."


	10. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Vergil was already destroying the last chess piece, the King from the looks of it, when he began to feel an immense rumbling. He quickly slid _Yamato_ through the King, which screamed a terrible roar before exploding into shards of fading stone. Sheathing his sword, Vergil looked around. The rumbling wasn't here...no, but he could feel pouring in through the portal that Mundus opened for him at the end of the board.

He hopped through, back in the same kind of environment provided by the the nine levels. He was in a room, devoid of anything, minus two doors. One behind, and one in front. Mundus' voice rattled through the room, "_Ah, Vergil. Time to choose between doors. I doubt that your family isn't faring too well against Nightmare, so you can go through the back door and help them. But if you do that, then I will get away again. I'm behind the door in front of you. Choose wisely. Come kill me, or go save your brother and father."_

Vergil laughed, "You really think that that's a hard choice for me. Why should I go save them? I don't care about their fate."

Mundus growled, "_Oh really? Because I think you do, even if you don't want to admit it. You do love your brother and your father, even if they are rival and betrayer. I don't think you could live without them. You would be nothing more than a pile of trash without them. You'd be torn in two. And from what I can see, they're not doing too well inside of Nightmare. Within minutes they will probably parish."_

Vergil snarled, "Think again bastard!" He ran forward and kicked in the door, revealing a pitch-blackness, before an explosion blasted outwards, knocking him across the room.

Opening his eyes, he looked up from the ground. His vision was blurry, but he definitely saw the figure of something. A person? They were glowing an extremely bright blue. Vergil strained to make out who it was, "M-Mundus? No...who are you?! Obstructing my path of revenge...I'LL KILL YOU TOO!"

The blue figure stopped walking across the room, and turned to face Vergil, "Where is he?"

Vergil raised a brow, "Where is who?!"

"Mundus. Where is he?"

"You...you're not him? He claimed to be where you just came from! What the hell is going on?!"

The blue figure turned and looked at the door which he walked from. It led outside...back to the skies of Earth. "He's not out there, he's in here."

Vergil snorted, "Bastard, Mundus, stop playing games with my mind!"

"_I'm not playing games with your mind, I'm just making the game more interesting. I figured you'd want a partner if you were to come fight me. Here, let me show you where I am._" Mundus laughed, as the doorway began to ripple like water, and the image of outside faded away, revealing a fiery furnace.

Vergil stood, "What the hell is this Mundus?! Who is this guy?! I don't need his help to kill you!"

Mundus' voice rumbled once more, "_He's your brother. Didn't you know? You both share two things in common. The same father, and the same thirst for revenge against me. I've been watching him as well for some time, flying around aimlessly in the human world trying to get to me. I figured I'd help you both. Lead him here, and give you help."_

Vergil screamed, "I DON'T NEED SOME SCUM'S HELP TO DEFEAT YOU." He turned and looked at the shining body of Nero, vision now back to it's fullest. "Your path is cut off here. I'm going in alone, and if you don't like that, then we can just fight for the right to see who goes."

Nero's expression did not change from a serious, yet pained look, "Don't be stupid. Now isn't the time for a fight for your pride. I'm not going to let you go in alone. It'd be better if actually stayed back all together. You're too weak to fight him anyway."

Vergil's eyes widened, "WHAT?! You brat! I'll kill you!" And with that Vergil devil-triggered, armor of Nelo Angelo enveloping around his body.

Chapter 9: Part 2

Vergil's blade clashed with Nero's. The crossed swords sparked as they slid apart, and both of the demonic men jumped away from eachother. Vergil growled, "I wish you'd just get out of my way boy!"

Nero, still shining like a star, shook his head, "I can't do that, you stupid bastard. You're here for revenge, but you're not even strong enough to defeat me, so how do you think you're going to defeat Mundus. I'm here to avenge the death of an innocent being, and I _am_ powerful enough to kill him. I am better than you, and I have a better reason than you, so _YOU_ get out of the way."

"Why, you...you...DIE!" Vergil screamed as he lashed forward with his sword, several dozen times. A net of bright lines appeared around Nero, before over twenty cuts appeared on his body. He did not budge.

"Stand down."

"No!" Vergil muttered.

"Do it. You'll die if you don't." Nero shook his head.

Vergil growled, taking a step forward, but fell to his knee as Nero's sword sliced through his chest. A quick shot of blood spurted out, "Guh! Damn you." He said, voice shaky.

"Leave. Now." Nero said, putting his sword to Vergil's neck.

Vergil looked down at the ground, "You...can't do this, t-to me. You can't."

"I can, and I will if you don't comply with my request." Nero spoke firmly.

"Dammit why?! Mundus...is mine. He is supposed to die by my sword! Who decided that you could take this away from me! Sure, you can beat me in a battle, and sure, I might not be as powerful as he is...but, no one has the right to destroy my pride. Not even you."

"You speak about your pride like it's what the universe revolves around. It's not. Better to keep your life and lose a small bit of your honor, than to die keeping that little extra bit."

Vergil snorted, "What kinda saying is that?! Where do you get off kid?! It's never better to lose pride than lose life. Losing pride is like losing soul. You're worthless."

"Shut up and leave before I kill you too." Nero tightened his grip on his sword and pressed up closer to Vergil's neck.

Vergil scoffed, looking over at the door, "Go. Go destroy him for good. Three times has he been fought in the past, and three times has he succeeded in escaping with his life. End the cycle. I shall go help Dante and Father with their fight."

Nero nodded, "Thank you, brother."

Vergil waved him off, walking through the door behind them, as Nero stepped into the doorway leading to Mundus' domain.

Chapter 9: Part 3

Nero stepped through the door into a blaze. Fire danced around him as he stepped out onto nothingness. Floating in the air, he glanced around, a distant chuckling filling the place, "Mundus, where are you?"

Just as Nero finished the question, something began to materialize in front of him. Black clouds came together to form a humanoid being, and out of the shadow formed bones, then organs, then pure, white skin. A pair of feathery wings shot out of it's back, matching Nero's wings. The bearded man looked at Nero, "Come give grandpa a hug."

Nero snarled, "Grandpa, huh? I don't care. This is it. It's just me and you, so let's get this finished. I want to hurry up and get out of here. I haven't even been here for ten minutes and the heat is already bugging me."

Mundus grinned, holding out his hand for a sword to materialize. It was bigger than _Red Queen_, black, and it's hand guard looked like a demons mouth. Mundus' wings spread as he flew towards Nero at a high speed. The tip of his blade hit the side of Nero's sword, as Nero blocked. Mundus laughed, "I'm going to have fun killing you just like I killed that poor girl of yours."

"BASTARD! Don't ever speak of her!" Nero kicked Mundus back, and swung down hard with his sword.

Mundus deflected the attack, and flew back a short distance, before a red ball of lightning appeared in his hand. He hurled it at Nero, and then followed it up with his sword raised high. Nero knocked the lightning ball away, but Mundus' sword flew down on his arm. Pain shot through his arm, but it actually came out undamaged.

Nero grabbed Mundus' sword, ripping it from his hand, and impaled him with it, kicking the hilt of the sword to knock him away. Mundus laughed as he tore the sword out of his body, vanishing behind a pillar of flame. Out of nowhere, his knee smashed into the back of Nero's head. Nero grunted, spinning around, sword extended to the side, and cut through Mundus' chest. Mundus laughed, slicing Nero across the face. The wound went deep, and straight through his left eye.

Nero screamed, before dashing forward to grab Mundus' by the neck, "Let's see you dodge this!" Nero stabbed Mundus through the gut and ripped his sword out of his side. Mundus grunted in pain, but failed to lose the grin as blood spurted from his wound.

"I didn't dodge it. You happy, boy?" Mundus smashed the side of his hand into Nero's wind-pipe.

Nero flew back, grabbing at his throat and gasping for air. Mundus rushed into Nero, driving his sword through Nero's shoulder. Nero screamed, more in anger than in pain, and kicked Mundus away once more. Mundus then began throwing waves of lightning at Nero. Nero deflected them all, and flew forward, bringing his sword up above his head, "DIE!"


	11. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Out of all of the demons that Dante could fight, he got stuck fighting Phantom...again. Phantom's front two legs swept forward, stabbing the ground as they chased Dante, who was quickly retreating while firing rounds from his twin pistols. Phantom shrieked in anger, "You pest! How long do you plan on using those pee-shooters, boy?!"

Dante shrugged, "Fine, you want the big package, you get the big package." Spinning around, Dante holstered his pistols and drew his sword, extending it out to the side. As he began making the second full-circle, _Rebellion_ slid through Phantom's jaw, ripping away one of his mandibles. Phantom once again disintegrated.

Credo had engaged and killed Griffin already, while Sparda took on Tiamat. Dante looked up. The skulls were all floating above him, staring at him with the black voids that were in place of eyes. Dante smiled, "Sargasso. You guys suck."

No sooner did Dante taunt them, they all began clapping their teeth together, making loud, harmonized clicking. "Jeez, would you stop already?" Dante asked. And so they did.

Dante raised a brow, "Okay...now stay there so I can...shoot you?" And so they didn't.

At once, all of the Sargasso flew at Dante, opening their mouths wide. Dante sighed, taking his sword and jumping into one, slicing it in two. Using one half of it, he kicked off jumping even higher, shooting right past all of the skulls. Swinging his sword over to his back, Dante whipped out both of his pistols and devil-triggered. "Eat this, ya hungry bastards!" Dante screamed before releasing a barrage of demon-enhanced bullets into the crowd.

Not even a minute of shooting and all of the skulls were destroyed. Now it was just up to Sparda to kill Tiamat with out making more of her. It was as simple as kicking her over the edge into the acidic pit of Nightmare's stomach. Dante laughed when it happened, before a bright light surrounded him, Sparda and Credo.

Before he knew it, he was falling on top of Vergil, who just came out in time to break his fall. Vergil grunted under Dante, "Guh! Get your disgusting, fat body off of me."

"Come on Vergil, lighten up. You'll live." Dante smiled, before being pulled away by Sparda.

Sparda looked at Vergil, "Glad you're here, because in order to defeat him quickly, I think all four of us are going to need to transform."

Credo joined, "Sparda, the demon is regaining its senses. I suggest that we act fast."

Sparda looked over to Nightmare, who was thrashing about over the hole that he and the other two created upon blasting out of the monster. Vergil looked over to Dante, "Well, if we're going to do this, let's get it over with."

Dante nodded, and devil-triggered yet again, followed by Vergil, Credo, then Sparda. Sparda glanced over to the three of them, "Alright boys, let's get him."

Credo glanced over to Sparda and noticed that for the first time in a long time, there was smirk on his face. Credo smiled as well, and then all four of them charged Nightmare. Dante went for the legs, while Vergil attacked the arms. Credo assaulted Nightmare's chest, and finally Sparda jumped up to the air, and sliced through Nightmare's head, revealing a spherical, shining core.

Chapter 10: Part 2

Nightmare roared and screamed as his core became exposed, glowing a luminescent blue, strange markings all over it. It was the writing of his demon brothers, but now it was about to be shattered. Sparda jabbed through the core, shattering it completely. Nightmare shrieked, "NO! I cannot be destroyed! You will not triumph. You will die by my hand. YOU WILL DIE!"

Sparda smirked, still standing in the gash on Nightmare's head, "You think too highly of yourself. I think it's time for you to say goodnight."

"No. You are wrong! I'm not going anywhere!" Nightmare said before swinging at Sparda with his last arm. Vergil had managed to already destroy one of them. Sparda jumped up at the last second as Nightmare's arm crashed through his head, sending sludge everywhere.

The giant, toxic demon fell with a thud, plates of armor and piles of goo spreading all about. All four of the warriors landed next to eachother. Dante walked forward, kicking one of the head plates, "Hmph...that was, to say the least, significantly less epic than it should have been. Why do big monsters suck anymore?"

Vergil, Credo and Sparda all looked at Dante with a quizzical expression, before Vergil spoke, "Shut up, Dante."

Sparda glanced over at Vergil, "So, I suggest that now that we're done with this one, we go help Nero."

Credo nodded in agreement, "Indeed, before Mundus kills him."

Vergil sighed, "The boy won't accept help. He wants to do this on his own. We'll just infuriate him."

Dante shook his head, "I don't give a _damn_ about his anger. I just don't _feel_ like helping him."

A vain bulged from Vergil's forehead, "Then why did you speak in the first place. Your voice is just unnecessary racket in my ears."

Sparda chuckled, "Just like old times."

Chapter 10: Part 3

Nero gasped for air as Mundus' clutch on his throat tightened, "Ah, being a Son of Sparda, I thought you'd provide a more interesting challenge, especially with this new devil form. You look more like an angel than a demon. You must take after your mother's human side more than your other half. None the less, I shall crush you and be done with it."

The red in Nero's eyes began to fade as his entire body reverted to its old, human form. Including his right arm. Nero struggled against Mundus' arm, "I...give up. Finish...this."

Mundus shook his head, "You're no sport at all. You are lacking the spunk that all of the rest of your family have. From reports, even your mother resisted death more than you."

Nero growled, "Well...good...for her, whoever...she is."

Mundus laughed, "You really have given up on this fight, haven't you? Too bad. Even in death, you won't be reunited with your love. I'm sending you straight to hell."

Nero stared into Mundus' eyes, "Not going to be reunited?"

"Yes, it's too bad. I would have enjoyed seeing that little wench burn for what she did to my host in that church. She practically ruined my original plan."

Nero's grip tightened on Mundus' wrist, "Wench...did you say, _wench_?!"

"Yes. Don't like that title, huh? Would you rather me use another?" Mundus laughed, unaware of Nero's sudden surge of power.

"How about this. You shut the hell up and DIE!" Nero screamed as he planted both of his legs on Mundus' chest, pushing away with all of his strength, holding Mundus' arm as he did so, ripping it away. Mundus screamed.

Nero looked at Mundus in his agony, "I don't need weapons or powers to defeat you. You're just a scumbag! A little kid could whoop you!"

Mundus grunted in anger and pain, looking up from his arm at Nero, "Why you! YOU WATCH YOUR TONGUE, BOY!"

"Why don't you just shut it already?!" Nero said, tossing the arm away.

"I WILL KILL YOU!" Mundus yelled as his sword once more materialized in his other hand.

"THEN SHUT UP AND TRY TO ALREADY!" Nero replied angrily before charging forward.

Mundus' blade came down hard at Nero, who blocked with his arm. As he did so, his arm formed back into it's devil-state. Mundus swung around to his other side, where Nero blocked with his other arm. The same thing occurred. Nero smiled at Mundus, "Alright you freak! Let's see _you_ block _this_!"

Mundus hesitated before attempting to block whatever Nero had planned next. Nero grabbed Mundus' sword, tearing it from his hand, and then swung it down, severing Mundus' other arm from his body. Nero caught it, and spun around, bashing Mundus across the head with hit. He twirled through the air. Nero screamed, as he threw the sword at Mundus. It spun through the air like a fan, before hitting Mundus in the side, locking itself in place.

Nero growled, "NOW YOU DIE!" A sudden aura of blue fire surrounded him, as he exploded into his full devil form, and dashed through the air. Clutching the hilt of Mundus' blade, Nero allowed all of his power to supercharge the sword. Nero screamed, as removed his hand from the blade and kicked it further into Mundus' body. The sword exploded. Nero was knocked back, and Mundus fell through all of the ash and fire with a gaping hole in his body, organs and blood slipping out.

The place began to rumble, and a white light surrounded everything. When Nero could see again, he was no longer in the same room. He and Mundus were falling through the central area of the Nine Levels. Sludge covered the majority of the place, and as Nero landed with a thud, and bounced twice off of the ground, he landed in some of the stuff himself.

Mundus managed to land on his feet, but his wounds were still showing. He was minus two arms and chunk of torso. Nero looked from the ground up to Mundus, "You don't learn when to die, do you?"

Mundus grunted in pain, attention leaving Nero and landing on four other figures, "Well, this is an unpleasant surprise. All three sons, the father and his follower."

Sparda looked at Mundus, "You picked a bad place to transport to. If you'd waited just a little longer, it would have been safe in here. We were just about to go looking for you."

Dante chuckled, "Je-sus-christ. What in the hell happened to you, man? You look like walking, sloppy, dog food."

Vergil smirked at the remark, "Did that boy do all of that to you?" Vergil asked, pointing at Nero, "If so...I'm sorry to hear it."

Credo stared, "We should go ahead and finish this now."

Sparda nodded, and they all four began stepping towards Mundus. Mundus growled, "I'm not going to die yet!" He jumped back in the air, and began chanting in a strange dialect.

Demonic symbols made of fire began appearing in front of him, and all of the sudden, the metal plating and sludge from Nightmare began to slide towards Mundus, "Prepare to see the true use of the Nightmare weapon!"


	12. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Mundus laughed evilly, completely changing in appearance as he absorbed Nightmare's remnant. Surges of physical power rushed outward, stunning all five of the warriors. As soon as Mundus could be seen again, Sparda strode forward, drawing his sword. Credo and Vergil followed closely, while Dante went over to help Nero up.

Dante put his hand out for Nero to grab, pulling him up as he did so, "C'mon kid. Looks like this is the grand finale. Let's go take him out."

Nero stood, nodding, "Yeah. Let's give this bastard some payback."

Dante chuckled, "That's the spirit."

Nero sighed, looking around, "Damn, _Red Queen_ is missing."

Dante smiled, "You know, I figured this would come in handy at some point. I've already got _Rebellion_, so, I figure you can use this. I brought it 'cause it's the same sword I fought Mundus with before. I was sure to grab it up before we even began this little journey."

Nero raised a brow as Dante allowed _Force Edge_ to appear in his hand, and he slipped it over to Nero. The sword was remarkably well preserved for all of its past uses, and Nero gave it a quick swing, "Wow...thanks."

Dante nodded, "I want it back by the end of the day, though."

Nero shrugged, "Whatever."

Dante shrugged as well, turning to face Mundus, who was being closed in on by the other three, "Let's go get him."

Nero and Dante jogged over to join the other three, and together, all five of them walked up to face Mundus. Mundus roared, "Let's get this over with! I have a war to win on that putrid planet, Earth."

Vergil unsheathed _Yamato_, and sped his pace up to the point of sprinting. Dante released _Rebellion_, charging forward right next to Vergil. Sparda and Credo both drew their swords, and followed up behind the other two. Nero, took the back, holding _Force Edge_. Before he left after the others, he said one thing to himself, silently. "This is for you, Kyrie."

With that, Nero took several, long strides forward before exploding into a flurry of speed, dashing past the other four. Leaping through the air, Nero raised the sword given to him by Dante, into the air. Sweeping down hard with it, his blade clashed with Mundus'. Mundus grinned, knocking Nero back with the slash of his sword.

Nero landed in the midst of the other four, and at once they all engaged Mundus. Blade strikes became so fast from all five of the heroes, that their attacks, and Mundus' deflections, began to blur their bodies. Sword clashes began to sound like rapid gunfire rather than blade against blade. Sparda spun through the air, slicing at Mundus from above. Mundus took the attack in the shoulder, and laughed, punching Sparda in the gut, and slamming him into the ground.

Credo launched himself toward Mundus' torso, pointing his sword towards Mundus like a spear. The blade made it through, and Credo smiled with an expression of victory. Mundus denied his triumph, bashing Credo away with his forearm. Credo's sword ripped out of the side of Mundus, as he toppled into the ground.

Mundus laughed, and screamed out as a massive shockwave exploded outward from his body. The bluish-green energy dimmed the entire cavern of hell. The fire and lava no longer illuminated the area, but was turned into the turquoise, demon crystal, Luminite . The only light source was now the green aura of Mundus' energy and the crystals all around. The shockwave created knocked Dante, Vergil and Nero back.

Vergil grunted, "Dante, devil form!" He and Dante both devil-triggered simultaneously, charging Mundus and attacking him just as fast as they all did before. Mundus laughed, swinging his sword to knock the two brothers away, "Surely all five of you can do better."

Sparda sighed, standing, "Yes we can."

Sparda and Credo both devil-triggered as well, leaving Nero as the last one to do it.

Chapter 11: Part 2

A gust of wind blew around Nero as he transformed. It was a second nature to him now, so simple to do after the first few times. Nero sped after the others, _Force Edge_ at his side.

Once again, all five of them engaged Mundus in battle. Dante was the first to strike, landing a clean cut down the center of his chest. Vergil crossed over the cut with a horizontal slice. Mundus laughed, "Getting biblical on me, Sons of Sparda?"

Dante smiled, "Well, no...at least I wasn't, but I guess Vergil had to go off and ruin that for me."

"Shut it you twat!" Vergil retorted, avoiding a fatal blow from Mundus.

Credo passed both of the twins, sliding his blade upward, scarring Mundus' new face. Mundus grunted, bashing Credo away with his hand. Sparda caught Credo, quickly putting him down to follow through with his own attack, but a burst of energy exploded out of Mundus' arm, hitting Sparda. He flew back, a pillar of smoke rising from his body. Nero blasted right past Sparda, quickly unleashing the power of _Force Edge_ onto Mundus.

Dante stopped in midair, and dashed over to Sparda, "Dad...dad? Come on, now's not the time to pull out of the game."

Sparda flipped over, revealing a hole in place of his left arm, "Dante, I'm out for good. I can't come back in. Don't worry...I won't die, seeing as how...I'm already dead." Sparda chuckled.

Dante frowned, "Don't worry. We'll beat him."

Vergil appeared out of nowhere, "Dante, help Credo and Nero finish Mundus. I'll get father away from here." Vergil waved Dante off, but as he reached for Sparda, Sparda began to fade into the air.

Sparda looked over to Dante and Vergil, "Finish Mundus. I'll be waiting on the other side."

Dante raised a brow, "What the hell is happening?!"

Credo stood from the ground, rubbing his face from the previous blow, "He is going back to High Realm. He hasn't necessarily died, just lost the ability to appear in your realm for some time due to a serious amount of injury. It is, to say the least, very much _like_ dying. But we musn't concentrate on that! Nero has now engaged Mundus, and if we do not help him, there's no telling what will happen.

Dante and Vergil nodded, and they all three jumped back into the fight, slicing at Mundus, right next to Nero. Mundus' booming laughter filled the air as he shrugged off all of their attacks, and stabbed through Credo, ripping the sword upward and out of Credo's shoulder. Blood spattered onto Nero. Credo faded away just as Sparda did. "Good luck...Nero."

Nero, once more watching his mentor and childhood brother-figure fall by sword, felt the rage flow through him again. It wasn't half as bad as it was for Kyrie, but it still fueled him. Nero screamed, thrusting his blade through Mundus' neck. But the sword stuck. Feeling Mundus' foot push hard into his gut, Nero flew back. Mundus tore the sword from his throat.

Vergil's eyes widened, and he looked over to Dante, "How much can this beast take."

Dante grunted, slicing at Mundus body once more, "I have no idea...perhaps we should try that old trick!"

Vergil smiled crookedly as he caught _Ebony_, Dante's steel, black pistol. They both went back to back, and Dante looked over his shoulder at Vergil, "Should we say it too?"

Vergil, "Makes it that much better."

Dante laughed, and as they both fired a powerful shot from the twin pistols, their favorite childhood word slipped from their mouths, "Jackpot."

The bullets twirled through the air, but, much to the twin brothers' surprise, Mundus cut through the bullets with _Force Edge_, four mini-explosions appearing behind him, "Fools! Is this really all you have to offer!"

Dante's and Vergil's mouths both opened slightly, before both of the blades Mundus was carrying plunged through them. Mundus ripped the swords out of the brothers, drawing them in and forming an X with his arms. Then he spun around and spread his arms out again, like a pair of scissors. Dante and Vergil fell to the ground. Vergil struggled to look over to Dante, lying in a pool of his own blood, "Have we...failed?"

Dante smiled, coughing up his own blood, "No...no, there's still one more brother...one more Son...of Sparda. And he will win this."

Vergil frowned, "Preposterous!" And then he fainted.

Dante chuckled, "Asshole..." And then he fainted as well.

Nero had long recovered from Mundus' kick, and seeing all of his friends...his family, fall. Nero felt something inside him. Some power, even more ferocious than his new devil-form. He looked up to Mundus, "You...you bastard. You may have killed my love. You may have made me relive the last moments of mentors life again. You may have slain all of my family...but you will NOT take my victory. You are DEAD!"

Nero screamed, before all of the blue, glowing skin on his body, turned completely black. Once more, his body began changing again. His white, feathery wings, turned into black, devil wings, and his blue, flaming aura turned into a purple vortex of power, swirling around him. The only thing that remained the same was his red eyes.

Mundus grunted, "What the hell is _this_?!"

"As I said. You. Are. Dead."

Chapter 11: Part 3

Nero stepped past Dante, staring straight at Mundus. Dante's voice caught Nero by surprise, "Go...get 'em kid...you're...the hero."

Nero sighed, "Mundus. Give me my sword."

Mundus grunted, and then laughed very loudly, "HAH! You expect me to just help you in killing me?!"

"No. I expect you to help me in killing you _faster_. I'm sure you don't want a slow death do you? Because this is going to be very painful either way."

Mundus growled, "You arrogant little brat! I'll show you the true meaning of pain!" Mundus slid across the ground, impaling Nero right through the heart with _Force Edge_. Nero clasped the blade with his clawed hand, "Thanks."

Mundus screamed in anger, trying to pull the sword away, but Nero's other hand came down with speed and power, as he broke Mundus' wrist, and then used the same hand to punch Mundus in the jaw. Mundus lost his grip on the sword as he was knocked away. Nero pulled the sword from his chest, gripping it tightly.

Mundus roared, twitching his broken hand before it snapped back into place, "You...won't get away with doing this! You're the last one stand, and you'll be the last one to die!"

"Shut up." Nero said, before instantly appearing right next to Mundus. He swung his blade upward, slicing a deep wound into Mundus' chest. Mundus cringed in pain, clawing at the cut, and then retaliated, swinging his sword in a wide arc. Nero caught it with his free hand, and then cut Mundus' arm off. Mundus yelled out, Nero pulling his sword from the clutch of his large hand.

Mundus backed, blood squirting from the stub. Nero took both sword, leaping into the air, and plunged them into Mundus' face. Mundus gurgled as Nero planted his feet on his shoulders. Nero smiled, "You like that? Here, have some more!"

Mundus struggled to stand as Nero began pulling the swords apart. It wasn't enough just yet. Nero paused, and kicked both of the blades' hilts, shoving them farther into Mundus' head, and once more began pulling them apart. Putting all of his strength and power into it, Nero finally ripped the blades apart, splitting Mundus' head into two halves. Throwing Mundus' blade away, Nero jumped upward, and came back down, slicing Mundus in two the rest of the way down his body.

As the two halves fell, pools of blood forming beneath them, Nero landed in between both halves, jabbing _Force Edge_ into the ground. Blazing spheres of energy formed around his fists, and Nero plunged both hands into the separate pieces of Mundus, disintegrating him. "Finally." Nero said, exhausted. Landing on his knees, Nero fell back into his human form, and then he toppled over on the ground.


	13. Chapter 12: Epilogue

Chapter 12

Nero woke up. Where was he? Looking around revealed the field in the middle of the forest that had supported the portal he entered Hell through. There was no portal, though. A few more glances in various directions revealed a figure in a long, red jacket. Nero stood, "Dante."

"Yup...it looks like...you did it. That was pretty quick too. I don't think it's even been thirty minutes since I passed out." Dante fell on his rump, rubbing his chest.

Nero searched for anyone else. Vergil was gone. Sparda and Credo had been gone too. But there were two others. Nero rubbed his eyes, "H-hey...where the hell did you two come from?! Where were you?!"

Trish sighed, "We were in the city the whole time. You know, cleaning up the mess that you two left behind. Those Angels sure weren't doing a good job of it."

Lady nodded, resting _Kalina Ann_ on her shoulder, "Yeah...they were just as useless as a bunch of _Dante's_ running around."

Dante threw his finger into the air, "Hey, shut the hell up! Or else, I will never pay your damn money back to you!"

"THE HELL YOU WON'T!" She screamed.

Nero grunted, rubbing at his chest. His heart still ached, not only from physical pain, but from the pain of reliving his mentor's death, and seeing his love die. He looked over to Dante, "So...did I _really_ kill him? Did I defeat Mundus?"

"Well...you definitely beat his ass. One can only hope that he's really dead though." Dante shrugged.

Nero scratched his head, "What about Vergil, and the others?"

Dante pointed up. Nero followed his finger, looking up into the sky. The beams of light shining through the sky revealed a group of people. There were five. They all began descending. Softly landing on the ground, Nero recognized four of them. Vergil, Credo, Sparda...and Kyrie! The last person was definitely familiar. He exchanged a quick glance with Trish, and then looked back to the other woman. They looked practically the same.

Dante stood up now, staring straight at the mysterious woman, "Mom...it's really you."

She nodded, smiling, "Dante, you've turned into a strapping young man. Just as your brother, Vergil."

Vergil cringed at the statement. Dante chuckled, before raising a brow, "So...what is this?"

Sparda stepped forward, "Well, I figured a family reunion was in order before we left."

Dante looked back over to Vergil, "Why are you with them?"

Vergil sighed, "It honestly hasn't crossed your mind that I've been dead throughout this whole ordeal, has it?"

Dante laughed, scratching his head, "No, I guess not."

Nero stepped forward, staring into Kyrie's eyes, before he fell to his knees, tears streaking down his cheeks, "Kyrie! Please...I'm so sorry! Forgive me! Forgive my failure. Forgive me, please! I tried as best as I could, and it wasn't enough!"

Kyrie smiled gently, walking over to Nero, "Don't worry. So long as your heart beats my way, you will always have my love. I was never angry with you. You haven't failed me."

"But, Kyrie! I-"

"Hush." She stuck her finger to his lips, and wiped away the tears. He looked at her quizzically before she kissed him. Credo's lips curled upward.

Nero looked at her, one more tear trickling down as she stepped back. Then he felt another hand on his shoulder. He looked over to see the woman that he didn't know, "And you, my youngest child. You turned out like I never imagined. You are, perhaps, the specialist one of all. Remember your mother's words. You are destined to achieve things greater than you already have. The first of which will be conquering this new power you have within you." She leaned forward and gave him a gentle kiss on the forehead, and stepped back as well.

Vergil stared at Dante, a brow raised, "Hurry up and die. I need someone to spar with."

Nero glanced back over to Kyrie, still on his knees, holding his right hand out to her. She held it with her hand, touching his skin gently, before the five started to fade back in to the beam of light, "I'll be waiting, Nero. I love you."

Then she faded away. The others were gone too, and the clouds began to close, sealing the beam away. Then it began to snow. Dante looked around, then stared at Nero, "Come on, kid. I'll take you back to the shop and get you something to drink."

Trish cut in, "Provided the shop is even still there."

Dante grunted, "What the hell are you saying?!"

Trish retorted with an arrogant reply, and then the argument started. Nero ignored them, glancing into the sky, looking at the oncoming snow.

"I love you too."

_End_


End file.
